NAME: KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA AGE: 39 DESIGNATION: Chairman STATE: Aditya Birla Group

Kumar Mangalam Birla is on an empire-building spree and it seems he has no intentions of slowing down. It really started a year ago with the merger of Indo Gulf Fertilisers and Birla Global Finance into Indian Rayon, which was subsequently renamed Aditya Birla Nuvo. Then came the announcement that was perhaps the most surprising. Just when it seemed that the group was all set to bid adieu to the telecom business, it did quite the reverse-it bought partner Tatas' 48.14 per cent holding in Idea Cellular for a whopping Rs 4,406 crore. With this, the group now holds a little over 98 per cent in the telecom major, which is tipped to go public. When it happens, it will mark the group's first IPO in over 15 years. The company is also looking to become a pan-India cellular player.

For Birla, the dream to go global is pretty much an ongoing process. Last year when bt interviewed him, he categorically said, "We hope to enter the Fortune 500 list as a group by the turn of the decade." With a proposed mega foray into retail-in typical Birla fashion, nothing will be announced or spoken of till everything is in place-and the recent acquisition of Canada's largest BPO, Minacs, for $125 million (Rs 575 crore) by group company, Transworks, that dream may not be too far away. In early September this year, the group struck a 70:30 joint venture with China-based Hubei Jing Wei Chemical Fibre Company for manufacturing specialty fibres for the Asian market. And now, news is trickling in that an unlisted company in the group, Essel Mining & Industries, is close to buying over a mining company in Indonesia for $180 million (Rs 828 crore). The group has in the past acquired mines in Australia through Hindalco and the overseas pursuit is seriously on, say those who track the group. As a leader, Birla is known to delegate and a large part of his core team has stuck with him for a while now. For the Chartered Accountant and MBA from London Business School, the next few years could be the ones to watch, as the investments may start bearing fruit. For now, it appears, the objective is to consolidate in key segments and look for ways to make Birla a stronger global group.

-Krishna Gopalan