The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has appointed Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla as the chairman of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Board of Governors (BoG) and its Society. Birla pipped both HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and Infosys chairman R Seshasa-yee to the position and it is learnt that Birla, who is also currently the chairman of IIT Delhi’s BoG, has reportedly accepted the position for a tenure of three years.

After IIM-A’s former chairman and L&T chairman AM Naik had stepped down in December last year, IIM-A had set up a selection committee and shortlisted three names, including Parekh, Seshasayee and Hero MotoCorp CMD Pawan Munjal, only to be rejected by the MHRD in May
this year.

However, a second list was sent to the MHRD on September 23 by the selection committee headed by IIM-A’s interim chairman and CMD of Zydus Cadila, Pankaj Patel.

About Kumar Mangalam Birla:

Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian industrialist and the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest conglomerate corporations in India. The group is India’s third largest business group. He is also the Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science.
Kumar Mangalam Birla is a fourth generation member of the Birla family from the state of Rajasthan. He spent his childhood in Kolkata and Mumbai. He has B.Com degree from University of Bombay, Chartered Accountancy from ICAI & an MBA from London Business School, London, where he is also an Honorary Fellow.

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla took over as Chairman of Aditya Birla Group in 1995, at the age of 28. From a turnover of US$3.33 Billion and operations in 8 countries in 1995, today under his stewardship, the Group’s revenues are in excess of US$41 billion with operations straddling 36 countries. He has made 36 acquisitions globally – the highest by an Indian multinational.