Kumar Mangalam Birla:::

IBC is a deep reform, much more than GST and note ban: Kumar Mangalam Birla

In an interview, chairman of Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla says reforms and their effects have given Birla the confidence to pursue aggressive growth for his group, as witnessed in his aggressive pursuits in the cement business and the latest acquisition of Aleris.

Mumbai: Kumar Mangalam Birla, the 51-year-old chairman of Aditya Birla Group, expects the Indian economy to grow between 7% and 8% over the next few years, because of a slew of reforms such as implementation of goods and services tax, demonetization and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

“I think we’re seeing improved levels of governance in corporate India and the government. We’re truly integrating with the world economy. I think there’s a definite deep cut that’s happened and IBC is a deep reform...,” Birla said in an interview.

He said banks will be more cautious in lending and the balance sheets of companies will matter more than before.

Such reforms and their effects have given Birla confidence to pursue aggressive growth for his group, as witnessed in his aggressive pursuits in the cement business and the latest acquisition of Aleris, which will make Hindalco Industries Ltd the world’s second-largest aluminium producer. Edited excerpts from an interview:

It’s been 8-9 months since talks started. But there was a lull in between... What happened?

Birla: You broke the story even before talks had started. That was crystal-gazing by you. You had the numbers down very accurately, almost to the last decimals (when you broke the story), it’s surprising you got that. It creates problems for us when you break the story, especially since we are a listed company. It affects the deal-making process, it raises the price. Sometimes other listed companies back off for a while also.

Satish Pai, managing director, Hindalco: There was nothing unusual. These types of deals take a while and we were patient that we don’t overpay. And obviously your leaking the news doesn’t help us. This makes the seller think we’re desperate.