Tag Aditya Birla Group

Bengaluru, May, 2024: Avtar Group, India’s leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Solutions firm, hosted the myAvtar Career Conference (MACC) at Karnataka Trade Promotion Organization (KTPO), Bengaluru today.

myAvtar Career Conference (MACC), the career extravaganza brought together inclusive companies and a vast pool of women talent from the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) under one roof. Participating Companies included, Aditya Birla Group, Publicis Sapient, Broadridge Financial Solutions India Limited, Moody’s, Renault Nisan Tech, IBM India, Google Cloud, HDFC ERGO, ACT, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Gallagher, Happiest Minds Technologies Limited, Stryker, Verisk, AKJ Somaiya Institute Of Management, among many others.

Tailored for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), MACC offered a unique platform to connect, collaborate, and converse with like-minded professionals, industry-leading companies, and renowned experts in the industry. The conclave was an ecosystem designed to foster learning, sharing, and networking for women in the STEM field; an opportunity to explore new horizons in the STEM field, to grow personally and professionally, and to unlock a world of possibilities. The conference witnessed a large gathering of students, educators, professionals, and industry leaders who shared their knowledge, experiences, and insights.

Avtar Group also announced the winners of their inaugural “Women in STEM” Awards. This Awards recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of women who are making significant strides in the STEM fields. In STEM Icons 15 plus years of work experience category, Vaijayanthi Srinivasa Raghavan Senior Director, UPS India Technology Centre, Priya Kanduri, CTO, SVP – Cyber Security Services, HappiestMinds Technologies Limited, Deepti Singh, Deputy General Manager- Head of Department System Installation, Renault Nissan Tech have received top 3 awards. In STEM Divas 8-15 years of work experience category, Subbulakshmi Ramkumar, Deputy Manager, RNTBCI, Yogita Bhanwaria, Senior Manager, Biocon Biologics Limited, MuthuSusithra Devarajan, Team Manager, Broadridge Financial Solutions have received top 3 awards. In STEM Stars 2-8 years of work experience category, Nishtha Mahendru, Consultant, Applied Innovation Exchange, Capgemini, Nidhi Raut, Sr. Engineer, Renault Nissan Technology Business Centre India (RNTBCI), Indujaa Thangavel, Broadridge Financial Solutions have received top 3 awards.

“One of the key sectors that has the potential to boost women’s workforce participation, is the STEM industry. While 43%of STEM graduates are women, they make up only 28% of the STEM workforce. Moreover, women drop out of the workplace due to childbirth, childcare and elder care. Consequently, only 3 percent of women hold CEO posts in the STEM Industry. While research has established that improving women’s workforce participation can boost India’s GDP by 27%, more women in STEM would set the stage for inclusive innovation and solution designs that are equitable for all. Women have historically been underrepresented in STEM, yet they bring invaluable perspectives and ideas to these fields. MACC awards recognizes the exceptional talent, the brilliance, and diverse perspectives of women in STEM,” said Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group announcing the awards at the myAvtar Career Conference today in Bengaluru.

“Through MACC, we are acknowledging the remarkable work being done by women in STEM and also addressing the systemic barriers they face. Our goal is to create an environment where every individual, regardless of gender, has the opportunity to thrive and drive progress,” added Dr Saundarya.

At the conference, three organizations with the “Best Programs for enabling women in STEM” – Biocon Biologics Pvt Ltd, Kyndryl and Molecular Connections Pvt Ltd were also recognized.

In addition to the awards, the myAvtar Career Conferences hosted a series of panel discussions, skilling tracks conducted by IBM, Google Cloud, Johnson & Johnson and Publicis Sapient exclusively for women. The event also provided a platform for knowledge exchange, mentorship, collaboration, further strengthening the presence and influence of women in the STEM field.

The conference hosted in the hybrid mode –saw an attendance of over 3000 women at the on-ground event, while there were over 2000 attendees virtually. Companies opened up jobs from entry-level to senior-level positions across India – Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Madurai and Coimbatore.

23/02/24 | Chennai: Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, today announced the launch of products and services under its new decorative paints brand, “Birla Opus”, aiming for Rs.10,000 Cr gross revenue within 3 years of full- scale operations. This marks the Aditya Birla Group’s entry into the rapidly expanding Rs. 80,000 Cr Indian decorative paints market, with an unprecedented level of upfront investment of Rs.10,000 Cr. Birla Opus business is being set up by
the group flagship company, Grasim Industries Ltd.

 Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said, “India today is teeming with dynamism, audacity, and a penchant for disruption. This India finds a reflection in our paints venture, Birla Opus. The Aditya Birla Group’s deep insight into the building materials ecosystem, honed over the years, offers us a unique vantage point. Birla Opus, therefore, is poised to transform the paint industry with a 40% addition to current capacity. No paint company globally has ever launched in one shot— factories, operations, products, and services, at the scale that we are about to undertake. He added, “Birla Opus should be seen as a scale start-up incubated by the Aditya Birla Group. It uniquely combines the agility, energy, and frugality of a start-up with the muscle, reliability, and brand strength of a storied and dynamic conglomerate.”

 Birla Opus products will be available in Punjab, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu from mid- March 2024 and across all 1 lakh population towns in India by July 2024. The company aims to expeditiously expand its distribution to over 6,000 towns by the fiscal year end. This will be the fastest & widest pan-India launch by any paint brand.

 The Aditya Birla Group Chairman also unveiled the brand logo of ‘Birla Opus’. The name ‘Birla Opus’ embodies the trust that underpins the Aditya Birla brand, with ‘Opus’ signifying beauty personified. The word ‘Opus’ is derived from the Latin phrase “magnum opus”, which represents a great work of art.

 “Birla Opus is all set to redefine standards on creativity, scale, transparency, technology, and sustainability. We are confident that the benefits of the competitive advantage built on the interplay of futuristic technology and pioneering chemistry will be passed on to the consumers through lower costs and consistency of superior quality. Birla Opus promises to simplify the consumer journey making the experience of painting enjoyable and contemporary.’ stated Mr. Himanshu Kapania, Director, Aditya Birla Group.

 Birla Opus will offer the widest range in the industry, with 145+ products and 1200+ SKUs across water-based paints, enamel paints, wood finishes, waterproofing and wallpapers. The products offered will be across consumer segments – economy, premium, luxury, designer finishes and institutional clients. In addition, Birla Opus will present the largest range of 2,300+ tintable colour choices including 216 iconic Indian colours.

 The brand is also set to delight consumers through its direct painting services, PaintCraft. This one-stop-shop for a comprehensive range of products and services, at launch, is an industry-first.

 Mr. Rakshit Hargave, CEO, Birla Opus, said, “On the back of strong in-house R&D, and extensive field validations, Birla Opus is committing to a higher product warranty than the leading players across most of water-based products. Birla Opus is also setting a benchmark by offering first-time warranty on enamels and wood finish products. As a customer-centric organisation, Birla Opus is poised to introduce a unique and pathbreaking customer assurance program shortly. As part of the inaugural offer, consumers will get an additional 10% volume on water-based products and contractors will get loyalty benefits across most of our products.” Birla Opus has already enrolled over 300,000 painting contractors and is starting the largest-ever sampling program.

 To service the length & breadth of the country, Birla Opus is building the “second largest network” of dealers within the first year, with an aim to create win-win partnerships with dealers. Birla Opus is installing for free, new age compact tinting machines with 40% reduced footprint enabling easier colour adoption. Birla Opus is committed to meet industry standard of 4-hour delivery of its 1200 + SKUs to dealers in Depot towns through the largest network of 150+ depots integrated with the latest warehousing systems.

  At the launch event, Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla “invited the entire spectrum of 100,000+ paint dealers pan India to participate in this industry revolution and transform consumer experience”.

Birla Opus has six strategically located, fully automated, integrated, and global scale manufacturing plants with a total commercial capacity of 1,332 MLPA (million litres per annum) – a quantum leap of 40% addition to the current industry capacity. Panipat (Haryana), Ludhiana (Punjab) and Cheyyar (Tamil Nadu) Birla Opus plants were dedicated to the nation today. Chamarajanagar (Karnataka), Mahad (Maharashtra) and Kharagpur (West Bengal) units will commence production over the course of FY25. All 6 manufacturing plants are fully sustainable with zero liquid discharge and equipped with 4 th generation manufacturing technology to manage supply chain processes at lightning speed, zero defects and end-to-end traceability.

 The Aditya Birla Group’s entry into the paints market signals its confidence in the sector’s future bolstered by the government’s push for infrastructure development and housing for all. India’s economy is expected to reach 10 trillion USD by 2034, with the paints sector set to surpass the Rs 3,00,000 crore mark by that time. Birla Opus is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this dynamic landscape.