Aditya Birla Group to invest Rs 20,000 cr in Gujarat

Making public his "personal bias" for investing in Gujarat, Kumarmangalam Birla on Sunday said the diversified Aditya Birla Group will invest Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) over a period of time in the state to ramp up capacities across various existing facilities.

"We will be continuing to grow our businesses here.

On the anvil are brownfield expansions at our cement plant in Sevagram, the VSF plants in Vilayat and Bharuch, and along with that, expansion in metal plants (among others) here.

"Our investments will be close to Rs 20,000 crore, as we see it," he said at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit here.

He further said that for his company, Gujarat is the most preferred investment destination in India.

"We're greatly impressed by proactive approach of government of Gujarat...I have a personal bias for it," he added.

Birla said it was not tax sops but delivery of high quality infrastructure which has got the group latched on to the state. At present, the Aditya Birla Group's investments in the state exceed Rs 25,000 crore and it generates revenues in excess of Rs 30,000 crore a year. The company, he said, employs 10,000 employees directly and 20,000 indirectly.

Speaking on the occasion, MasterCard President and Global Chief Executive Ajay Banga said investors are hoping for a similar show from Modi (as he had shown as Gujarat Chief Minister) at national level. Banga, who is also Chairman of USIBC, said the NDA government has "gotten off to a very, very good start" but pointed out some concerns among investors.

"They are waiting for clarity, they want transparency in policy decisions, consistency and predictability," he said. He said progress on key issues like land reforms, labour reforms, property ownership reforms, GST rollout and Government moves on retrospective taxation will be keenly followed now on. As for his company, Banga said MasterCard is very optimistic about the country and in the last one year it has invested over  $250 million in the country.

"More than 10 per cent of our workforce is now in India," he said.