Birla Corporation Ltd

In the past few years, the MP Birla Group faced unprecedented challenges with the world economy going into a tailspin in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and war breaking out between Russia and Ukraine.

Despite these disruptions which left the global economy grappling with myriad challenges, Birla Corporation Limited continued to walk the growth path it had charted out for itself.

Treading cautiously through the unexpected headwinds and without compromising on safety, the Company managed to start commercial operations at its state-of-the-art integrated cement factory at Mukutban in eastern Maharashtra at the beginning of FY 2022-23.

Seen in the light of frequent _ight of workers from the factory site due to the pandemic, and the extraordinary rise in fuel prices which the _edgling factory had to cope with in its early days, Mukutban has in its first year of operation lived up to its billing and is on its way to becoming the Company's most efficient production unit.

Birla Corporation prides itself for having executed the Mukutban project with over 10 million man-hours of hard labour without any major accidents. The unit has created thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the economically backward district of Yavatmal. As we expand, we expect the unit to create economic multipliers that the Government had in mind while awarding the project.

The Mukutban factory is the fruit of hours of brainstorming and strategic thinking. The Company's production units are now uniquely positioned in terms of their geographical locations and reach to complement one another and work together to serve our core cement markets more efficiently than ever before. Going forward, as we scale up production at Mukutban, we expect the strategic synergy among our production units to translate into higher profitability.

Alongside, we have been steadily investing into our wide portfolio of MP Birla Cement brands, and now have from among them several leaders, both at national and regional levels. This, in turn, has helped us expand our partnership with distributors and retailers. We have grown in numbers internally as well, and are widely seen today as a responsible employer, which makes it easier for us to attract talent.

In line with the MP Birla Group's stated philosophy of creating lasting assets for society, the commercial enterprises of the group continue to support and expand academic and healthcare institutions—12 hospitals and as many knowledge centres spread across India, which are run as non-profits.

One of our latest additions is the Priyamvada Birla Institute of Nursing in Kolkata—a school-cum-college that can accommodate some 700 students. Hospitals in eastern India have for long been su_ering from the shortage of trained nurses. As the MP Birla Group expands its own healthcare facilities, the nursing school is expected to become a dependable source of trained professionals.

As the MP Birla Group sharpens focus on sustainability across all enterprises and functions, we have adopted at Birla Corporation a model of excellence: 4Vs, which stands for Vision, Value, Velocity and Visibility. This model is aimed at improving our efficiency in all functions, making these not only competitive but also sustainable for all stakeholders.

The experience of the past few years has taught us that in a volatile and unpredictable world, the future will be non-linear. Amid such uncertainties, we are working at full throttle with our philosophy of Heart and Strength to create value for all stakeholders and make our operations more sustainable in the days ahead.