Kumar Mangalam Birla

Birla is a fourth-generation member of the Marwari Birla family from the state of Rajasthan.[1][5] He was born in Kolkata and raised in Mumbai.[6] He did his high school from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics and a bachelor's degree from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics of the University of Mumbai, and a MBA degree from London Business School, where he is an honorary fellow.[2] He is also a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Birla took over as chairman of the Aditya Birla Group in 1995, at the age of 28, following the death of his father Aditya Vikram Birla. [7]Group|url=https://www.apherald.com/Politics/Read/342384/Kumar-Mangalam-Birla-History-Maker-Founder-of-Aditya-Birla-Group}}</ref> During his tenure as chairman, the group's annual turnover has increased from US$3.33 Billion in 1995 to US$48.3 billion in 2019.[8] According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Birla lost $3.1 billion between 2017 and 2019, with his net worth reduced to $6 billion. The major reason for this loss is "financial distress" that Vodafone Idea Ltd has been experiencing, in addition to the fall in "shares of flagship firms that produce chemicals, metals and cement." [9]

Birla's name significantly surfaced in Indian coal allocation scam, an infamous political scandal that traced its origin to the illegal allocation of coal blocks between 2004 and 2009. Central Bureau of Investigation, in 2013, accused Birla of "influencing the then coal secretary in getting the block, Talabira II in Orissa, allocated to Hindalco, when its was meant only for allocation to public sector firms. The investigative agency said that the block was allocated to Neyveli Lignite and Mahanadi Coalfields (both PSUs) in 2005 but sometime in the middle of the year Birla met Parekh after which the earlier decision of the screening committee was overturned and Hindalco was also accommodated along with the two. This led to notional loss to the exchequer."[12] Forbes report said that the CBI report's remarks on Birla's alleged involvement led to a sharp fall in shares of Birla's companies. Hindalco "lost 5% before recovering." [13] However, the then ruling government's leader Digvijaya Singh told The Economic Times that Birla has been "the most clean corporate leader" who has never known to be a fly-by-night operator.[14]

In 2014, after Modi Government came to power, CBI filed closure report against Birla.[15]

In 2016, Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader, accused Birla's firm of paying bribes to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.[16] However, reportedly, Mr. Gandhi was "upset" at CBI when FIR was filed against Birla in Coal Blocks allocation scam in 2013. Coomi Kapoor wrote that Birla then happened to be "a benefactor of Rahul's constituency, Amethi".[17] The Birla Group did not make any donations to the Rahul-led Indian National Congress in 2012-13 "after being its top donor with a donation of Rs 36.4 crore between 2004-5 and 2011-12." At the same time, Birla was the largest contributor to the Bhartiya Janata Party, donating Rs. 7.05 crore in 2012–13.[18] Birla was eventually made the Chairman of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad as well as Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Board of Governors (in 2016) and a non-official independent director of Air India (in 2018) by Narendra Modi-led BJP government.[19]

• List of billionaires
• List of University of London people
• Indian coal allocation scam