In India : :: One of the leading cement producers :: The top fashion (branded apparel) and lifestyle player :: The

second-largest producer of viscose filament yarn :: The second-largest in the chlor-alkali sector :: Among the top four mobile telephony companies :: Among top 10 Indian BPO companies by revenue size :: A leading player in life insurance and asset management :: Among the top three supermarket chains in the retail businessRock solid in fundamentals, the Aditya Birla Group nurtures a culture wheresuccess does not come in the way of the need to keep learning afresh, to keepexperimenting. Beyond business Transcending business for over 50 years now, the Group has been and continues tobe involved in meaningful welfare-driven initiatives that distinctly impact thequality of life of the weaker sections of society in India, South-East Asia andEgypt.In India, the Group's social projects span 2,500 villages. It reaches out to sevenmillion people annually through the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiativesand Rural Development, spearheaded by Mrs. Rajashree Birla. Its focus ishealthcare, education, sustainable livelihood, infrastructure and espousing socialcauses.The Group runs 42 schools, which provide quality education to over 45,000children in India's interiors. Of these, over 18,000 children receive free education.An additional 8,000 students receive merit scholarships. Likewise at its 18hospitals in India, more than a million patients are given extremely subsidisedmedical care. To embed corporate social responsibility as a way of life inorganisations, the Group has set up the FICCI Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence, in Delhi.The Group transcends the conventional barriers of business and reaches out to themarginalised because of its conviction of bringing in a more equitable society. Gr oup companies :: Grasim Industries Ltd. :: Hindalco Industries Ltd. :: Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. :: UltraTech Cement Ltd. Indian companies :: Aditya Birla Minacs Worldwide Limited :: Essel Mining & Industries Ltd :: Idea Cellular Ltd. :: Aditya Birla Insulators :: Aditya Birla Retail Limited ::

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited Inte r national companies Thailand :: Thai Rayon :: Indo Thai Synthetics :: Thai Acrylic Fibre :: Thai Carbon Black :: Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) Ltd. :: Thai Peroxide P hilippines :: Indo Phil Group of companies :: Pan Century Surfactants Inc. Indonesia :: PT Indo Bharat Rayon :: PT Elegant Textile Industry :: PT Sunrise Bumi Textiles :: PT Indo Liberty Textiles :: PT Indo Raya Kimia Egypt :: Alexandria Carbon Black Company S.A.E :: Alexandria Fiber Company S.A.E C hina :: Liaoning Birla Carbon :: Birla Jingwei Fibres Company Limited :: Aditya Birla Grasun Chemicals (Fangchenggang) Ltd. C anada :: A.V. Group Aust r alia :: Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd.

Laos :: Birla Laos Pulp & Plantations Company Limited N o r th and South Ame r ica, Eu r ope and Asia :: Novelis Inc. Singapo r e :: Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte Ltd. (SSOE) J oint ventu r es :: Birla Sun Life Insurance Company :: Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company :: Aditya Birla Money Mart Limited :: Tanfac Industries Limited FOU ND E R The roots of the Aditya Birla Group date back to the 19th century in the picturesque townof Pilani, set amidst the Rajasthan desert. It was here that Seth Shiv Narayan Birla startedtrading in cotton, laying the foundation for the House of Birlas.Through India's arduous times of the 1850s, the Birla business expanded rapidly. In theearly part of the 20th century, our Group's founding father, Ghanshyamdas Birla, set upindustries in critical sectors such as textiles and fibre, aluminium, cement and chemicals.As a close confidante of Mahatma Gandhi, he played an active role in the Indian freedomstruggle. He represented India at the first and second round-table conference in London,along with Gandhiji. It was at "Birla House" in Delhi that the luminaries of the Indianfreedom struggle often met to plot the downfall of the British Raj.Ghanshyamdas Birla found no contradiction in pursuing business goals with thededication of a saint, emerging as one of the foremost industrialists of preindependenceIndia. The principles by which he lived were soaked up by his grandson, Aditya VikramBirla, our Group's legendary leader. Aditya Vik r am Bi r la : putting India on the wo r ld map

A formidable force in Indian industry, Mr. Aditya Birla dared todream of setting up a global business empire at the age of 24. Hewas the first to put Indian business on the world map, as far back as1969, long before globalisation became a buzzword in India.In the then vibrant and free market South East Asian countries, heventured to set up world-class production bases. He had foreseenthe winds of change and staked the future of his business on acompetitive, free market driven economy order. He put Indian business on the globe, 22years before economic liberalisation was formally introduced by the former PrimeMinister, Mr. Narasimha Rao and the former Union Finance Minister, Dr. ManmohanSingh. He set up 19 companies outside India, in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, thePhilippines and Egypt. Interestingly, for Mr. Aditya Birla, globalisation meant more than just geographic reach.He believed that a business could be global even whilst being based in India. Therefore,back in his hometerritory, he drove single-mindedly to put together the building blocksto make our Indian business a global force.Under his stewardship, his companies rose to be the world's largest producer of viscosestaple fibre, the largest refiner of palm oil, the third largest producer of insulators and thesixth largest producer of carbon black. In India, they attained the status of the largestsingle producer of viscose filament yarn, apart from being a producer of cement, greycement and rayon grade pulp. The Group is also the largest producer of aluminium in theprivate sector, the lowest first cost producers in the world and the only producer of linenin the textile industry in India.At the time of his untimely demise, the Group's revenues crossed Rs.8,000 crore globally,with assets of over Rs.9,000 crore, comprising of 55 benchmark quality plants, anemployee strength of 75,000 and a shareholder community of 600,000.Under the leadership of our Chairman, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Group hassustained and established a leadership position in its key businesses through continuousvalue-creation. Spearheaded by Grasim, Hindalco, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Indo Gulf Fertilisers and companies in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Egypt,the Aditya Birla Group is a leader in a swathe of products viscose staple fibre,aluminium, cement, copper, carbon black, palm oil, insulators, garments. And withsuccessful forays into financial services, telecom, software and BPO, the Group is todayone of Asia's most diversified business groups. M r. Kuma r M angalam Bi r la Chai rm a n, T h e Ad i ty a B i rl a Group Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is Chairman of the US$ 28 billion Aditya Birla Group andIndias first truly multinational corporation. An iconic figure, Mr. Birla holds several keypositions on various regulatory and professional boards. He is a director of the CentralBoard of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India and chairman of the Staff Sub-Committee of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He serves on the PrimeMinister of Indias Advisory Council on Trade and Industry. He is the chairman of theBoard of Trade constituted by the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, alsochairman of the Ministry of Company Affairs Advisory Committee.Additionally, he is on the

National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII);the Apex Advisory Council of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, New Delhi and the Advisory Council for the Centre for Corporate Governance.Several accolades have been showered on Mr. Birla such as the Asia Pacific Global HR Excellence Exemplary Leader Award and NDTVs Global Indian Leader of the year,and Most Socially Responsible Leader by Outlook Bus i ness Magazine all in 2007.Earlier, the Lakshmipat Singhania IIM, Lucknow National Leadership Award 2006,Business Leader, was conferred on Mr. Birla by the Prime Minister. Mr. Birla also hasbeen named the World Economic Forums Young Global Leader, Ernst & YoungEntrepreneur of the year", the Econom i cT i mes Business Leader of the year, Bus i nessInd ia s "Business Man of the year, Bus i ness Tod a y s Young Super Performer in theCEO Category, NITIEs Business Visionary, and the Bombay ManagementAssociations Management Man of the year.A chartered accountant, Mr. Birla earned an MBA from the London Business School,where he is also an Honorary Fellow. Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla and his wife, Mrs.Neerja Birla, have three children, Ananyashree, Aryaman Vikram and Advaitesha. LEA D E R SHI P TEA M Our leadership team provides strategic direction to Group companies. The teamcomprises:Mr. Kumar Mangalam BirlaChairman, Aditya Birla GroupMr. Pranab BaruaTextiles and ApparelsMrs. Rajashree BirlaChairperson, The Aditya BirlaCentre for CommunityInitiatives and RuralDevelopmentMr. Rajiv DubeGroup CorporateServicesMr. Ajay SrinivasanFinancial ServicesDr. Rakesh JainAditya Birla NuvoMr. Askaran AgarwalaBirla Group Trusts & SpecialCommunity ProjectsMr. Ravi KastiaMining & TradingDr. Bharat SinghBusiness Review Council(Services business)Mr. Sanjeev AgaTelecomMr. D.D. RathiBusiness Review Council(Services business)Dr. Santrupt B MisraCarbon Black Businessand Group HR Mr. Debu BhattacharyaMetalsMr. Shailendra JainChairman, BusinessReview Council(Manufacturingbusiness)Mr. K. K. MaheshwariPulp & FibreMr. Vikram RaoAcrylic Fibre andOverseas SpinningBusinessMr. Lalit Naik ChemicalsMr. Thomas VargheseRetailMr. O. P. PuranmalkaCement M A R KETI NG

R ESEA R C H Marketing research can be broken down into two distinct words- Marketing andResearch. We have to understand each of the two components Marketing andResearch to know what Marketing Research is all about. Marketing is essentially asum total of two entities, viz. the target market and the marketing mix for themarket, which in turn is related to actions regarding the four Ps viz. Product,Price, Place and Promotion. Thus, marketing is some human activity directed atsatisfying needs and wants through exchange process and a modern marketingsystem cannot exist without efficient producers and affluent consumers.Research is an activity solving problem. It is an endeavor to discover, and developknowledge aiming for progress. The testing validity of existing phenomena cannotbe possible but for research. Research is, the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge,whether that a process involving a series of steps to collect and analyze theinformation needed for decision in the desired filed of enquiry. If it is in the fieldof sociology it is termed as Social research and if it is in the filed of marketing it isknown as Marketing Research.According to Philip Kotler, Marketing research is the systematic design,collection, analysis and reporting of data, and finding a solution relevant to specificmarketing situation facing the company. Marketing research is undertaken toguide managers in their analysis, planning, implementation and control of programmes to satisfy customers and organizational goals. In the words of Blankership and Doyle, Marketing Research is the collection andimplementation of facts that help marketing management to get products moreefficiently into the heads of the customer. Marketing research encompasses all theinformation pertinent to this task, all the appropriate techniques.American Marketing Association defines marketing research as, the systematicgathering, recording, and analysis of data about problems relating to the marketingof goods and services.Green and Tull have defined marketing research as the systematic and objectivesearch for and analysis of information relevant to the identification and solution of any problem in the field of marketing.Marketing research can be broken down into two distinct wordsMarketing andResearch. We have to understand each of the two components Marketing andResearch to know what Marketing Research is all about. Marketing is essentially asum total of two entities, viz. the target market and the marketing mix for themarket, which in turn is related to actions regarding the four Ps viz. Product,Price, Place and Promotion. Thus, marketing is some human activity directed atsatisfying needs and wants through exchange process and a modern marketingsystem cannot exist without efficient producers and affluent consumers.Research is an activity solving problem. It is an endeavor to discover, and developknowledge aiming for progress. The testing validity of existing phenomena cannotbe possible but for research. Research is, the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge,whether that a process involving a series of steps to collect and analyze the information needed for decision in the desired filed of enquiry. If it is in the fieldof sociology it is termed as Social research and if it is in the filed of marketing it isknown as Marketing Research.From the above definitions, following fundamental characteristics of marketingresearch can be derived:y Marketing Research is an objective and systematized body of knowledge. y It involves collection, recording, analysis, interpretation and reporting of some relevant information. y Provides more efficient marketing of goods and services to consumers. It isconcerned with problems relating to products, markets and methods of salesand distribution. y Deals with present and potential consumers as well as the changingmarketing environment. y Provides regular and reliable information about the product, its market andthe potential consumer to the management so as to chalk out appropriatemarketing strategy.

y There can be both intra and extra resources for collecting information. y It provides information for decision making and to develop new knowledge. y Marketing research is an attempt to find justified solutions to marketingproblems. FA C T FILE The world's largest aluminium rolling companyWorld leader in viscose staple fibreOne of the three biggest producers of primary aluminium in AsiaOne of the leading cement producers in India and the ninth-largest globallyFourth-largest producer of carbon black in the worldFourth-largest producer of insulators in the worldWorld's fifth-largest producer of acrylic fibre PR O D U C TS C ompany Key p r oducts C ompanies in India Gr asim Indust r ies Limited Cement, viscose staple fibre, rayon grade pulp,ready mix concrete, chemicals, textilesUltraTech Cement Limited* Cement, ready mix concrete Hindalco Indust r ies Limited Aluminium, copper Novelis Inc.* Aluminium rolled products, cans, primary metal,recyclingAditya Birla Minerals Limited* Australia copper minesAditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited* Caustic sodaHindalco-Almex Aerospace Limited** Aerospace alloyUtkal Alumina International Limited* AluminaDahej Harbour & Infrastructure Limited*Handling of captive cargo (copper unit) andcommercial cargoAditya Birla Science and TechnologyCompany LimitedR&DTubed Coal Mines Limited* MiningMahan Coal Limited** Mining Aditya Bi r la N uvo Limited Branded garments, viscose filament yarn, carbonblack, agribusiness, insulators, textilesBirla Sun Life Insurance Company Life insurance Limited** Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Limited** Asset managementAditya Birla Finance Limited* Non-banking financial servicesAditya Birla Money Mart Limited*

Distribution and wealth managementAditya Birla Money Limited* BrokingAditya Birla Insurance Brokers (erstwhile Birla Insurance Advisory and Broking Services Limited*)General insurance advisory and brokingAditya Birla Capital Advisors Private Limited* Private equity investment, advisory andmanagement servicesIdea Cellular Limited** Cellular servicesAditya Birla Minacs Worldwide Limited* IT-ITeSMadura Fashion & Lifestyle Branded apparel retailing Essel M ining Iron ore mining, noble ferro alloys and windpower generation Aditya Bi r la R etail Limited FMCG products, fruits, vegetables, groceries,frozen food, bakery, homecare and pharmacy J oint ventu r es Birla Sun Life Joint Ventures Financial servicesTanfac Industries Fluorine chemicalsAditya Birla Grasun Chemicals (Fangchenggang) Limited Food grade phosphoric acid Thai Peroxide Company Limited Hydrogen peroxideHindalco Almex Aerospace Limited Aerospace alloysMahan Coal Limited MiningHydromine Bauxite / alumina C ompanies ove r seas Novelis Inc. Aluminium flat rolled products (sheet and foil)and recycling. Also bauxite mining, power generation and aluminium smeltingThai Rayon Viscose staple fibre (VSF)Indo Thai Synthetics Spun yarns of 100 per cent rayon, PES and blendsThai Acrylic Fibre Acrylic fibreThai Carbon Black Carbon black Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) Limited Chlor-alkali products, epichlorohydrin, epoxyresins, sodium phosphates, speciality phosphates,sodium sulphite, sodium metabisulphiteThai Peroxide Hydrogen peroxideBirla Lao Pulp and Plantations Company Limited Pulp wood plantations and dissolving pulp plantIndo Phil Textile Mills YarnsIndo Phil Cotton Mills YarnsIndo Phil Acrylic Mfg. Corp. YarnsPan Century Surfactants Fatty alcohols, fatty acids, glycerine

PT Indo Bharat Rayon VSFPT Elegant Textile Industry YarnsPT Sunrise Bumi Textiles YarnsPT Indo Liberty Textiles YarnsPT Indo Raya Kimia Carbon di-sulphideSwiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte Limited Trans-national bulk commodity trading solutionsprovider Alexandria Carbon Black Carbon black Alexandria Fiber Acrylic fibreLiaoning Birla Carbon Co. Limited Carbon black Birla Jingwei Fibres Co. Limited VSFAditya Birla Grasun (Fangchenggang) Limited Food grade phosphoric acidAV Cell Inc. Softwood/hardwood dissolving grade pulp (for VSF manufacture)AV Nackawic Inc. Hardwood dissolving grade pulp (for VSFmanufacture)Aditya Birla Minerals Limited Copper mines

The Aditya Birla Group, India's first multinational corporation, traces its originsback to the tiny village of Pilani in the Rajasthan desert, where Seth Shiv NarayanBirla started cotton trading operations in 1857. Today, the Group's footprintextends to 27 countries and its revenues are US$ 29 billion. We retrace thehighlights of this remarkable journey, starting from the present: 2010 :: Ultratech's 'Concern for Health' project awarded the Asian Corporate SocialResponsibility Award by the Asian Institute of Management Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility. :: Hindalco ranked ninth across industries on Forbes Asia's Fab 50 companies listof Asia's 50 most valued companies. :: Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for CommunityInitiatives and Rural Development receives 'Hello Hall of Fame' award for 'Exemplary Philanthropist of the year' from Worldwide Media Goup's 'Hello'celebrity journal. :: Indian Rayon, Veraval (a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo) is awarded The RajivGandhi Environment Award for Clean Technologies by The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. :: Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Group, presented the All IndiaManagement Association (AIMA) Managing India Award 2010 for ' BusinessLeader of the Year'. AIMA confers these awards to persons who areexemplary leaders who have made a fundamental difference. :: Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives andRural Development, awarded the Global Golden Peacock Life Time AchievementAward for Community Development for the year 2010 for "Outstanding ContributionTowards Community Development and Social Welfare". :: Hindalco and Birla White declared winners in the Golden Peacock Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility 2010 by an eminent international jury, headed byJustice P.M. Bhagwati, the erstwhile Chief Justice of India. :: The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development team upwith Columbia University's research centre, the Columbia Global Centers' EarthInstitute in Mumbai, to become its principal partner. The Earth Institute's goal is tohelp achieve sustainable development primarily by expanding people's understandingof the earth as one integrated system.

2009 :: Grasim's pulp and fibre division wins the highly prestigious Asian CSR Award.The Asian CSR Awards, Asia's Premier CSR Awards program, is a project of the Asian Institute of Management, Manila. :: The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Government of Thailand confersThe Best Labor Relations and Welfare Award, 2009 on Indo Thai SyntheticCompany Limited. :: Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund named "The Asset Management Company of theYear, India", by the Hong Kong based magazine, T h e Asset , in the countryawards category of their "Triple A Investment Performance Awards 2009". :: CNBC TV18 Crisil recognises Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund as "The MutualFund House of the Year" in 2008 and 2009 (for 2007 and 2008), creatinghistory as the only fund house to have won this recognition in two consecutiveyears. :: The Birla Sun Life Equity-Linked FMP wins the "Best Local CurrencyStructured Product-India" at the Triple A Investment Performance Awards2009. :: Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund named the best "Onshore Fund House India" byHong Kong based magazine, T h e As ia n Investor , at the InvestmentPerformance Awards 2009. :: Rajiv Gandhi Award for Eminence in Social Field, 2009 conferred on Mrs.Rajashree Birla by Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia (Union Minister of State,Commerce & Industry) on 19 August 2009. The award recognises Mrs. Birla'spathbreaking work among the poor, more so in India's villages, carried outthrough the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and RuralDevelopment. :: Idea Cellular wins the Economic Times' "Emerging Company of the Year Award for 2009". :: Vikram Cement and Aditya Cement wins the Federation of Indian Mineral andIndustries' "Social Awareness Award for the year 2008-09". :: Reader's Digest Pegasus Star Award conferred on Hindalco in recognition of work that truly exemplifies the highest values of society and corporateleadership for social responsibility and sustainable development initiatives.Mrs. Rajashree Birla who spearheads all the Group's social projects receivedthis much coveted award on behalf of Hindalco from Mr. Arun Jaitley, MP,Rajya Sabha, on 21 January 2009 in Delhi.

2008 :: The President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Patil confers the much coveted RotaryInternational Polio Eradication Champion Award on Mrs. Rajashree Birla in anelegant function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (Delhi), attended by the Chairman,select Rotarians and WHO officials. 2007 :: The Aditya Birla Group honoured with the India Today Group's Readers DigestGold award in recognition of the work that truly exemplifies the highest valuesof society as well as those of Reader's Digest. The award was received by Mrs.Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Center for Community Initiativesand Rural Development, at the Pegasus Corporate Social ResponsibilityAwards 2007 function. :: Hindalco awarded the CII - Sorabji Green Business Centre "National Award for Excellence in Water Management 2007". :: In May 2007, Novelis becomes a Hindalco subsidiary with the completion of the acquisition process. The transaction makes Hindalco the world's largestaluminum rolling company and one of the biggest producers of primaryaluminum in Asia, as well as being India's leading copper producer. 2006 :: Hindalco enters into a joint venture with Almex USA Inc. :: TransWorks Information Services announces success of bid to acquire MinacsWorldwide. :: Grasim Industries Limited, India; Thai Rayon Public Company Limited,Thailand; and P.T. Indo Bharat Rayon, Indonesia, form a JV with Hubei JingWei Chemical Fibre Company, China, for VSF. :: Hindalco awarded the Greentech Safety Silver Award for its outstanding safetyperformance during 2005-06. 2005 :: Indian Rayon re-christened as Aditya Birla Nuvo. :: Aditya Birla Group to set up a world-class aluminium project in Orissa. :: The Aditya Birla Group signs a framework agreement to acquire St AnneNackawic Pulp Mill, Canada.

2004 :: Board reconstituted with Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla taking over as Chairman. :: Completion of the implementation process to demerge the cement business of L&T and completion of open offer by Grasim, with the latter acquiringcontrolling stake in the newly formed company UltraTech. :: Grasim, Nagda, receives the FICCI Annual Award 2003-2004 in recognition of corporate initiaitve in rural development. :: Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited, Rehla, Jharkhand, receives theFICCI Annual Award 20032004 in recognition of corporate initiative in familywelfare. :: Hindalco recieves India CFO Award 2004 for excellence in finance in a largecorporate. :: Scheme of Arrangement announced to merge Indal with Hindalco. :: Indian Rayon completes its brownfield expansion of 40,000tpa at Hi-TechCarbon, Gummidipundi, taking total capacity to 1,60,000tpa. :: Deming Award for Indo Gulf. :: Indal won FICCI Award 2002-2003 for 'Corporate Initiative in RuralDevelopment'. 2003 :: Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Group, selected as Bus i nessInd ia 's Businessman of the Year - 2003. :: Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla selected as T h e Econom i cT i mes ' Business Leader of the year. :: The Group is ranked 16th in India's first ever survey of 'Great places to work in', published in Bus i ness World magazine. The Group's joint venture concern,Birla Sun Life Insurance, is ranked 9th in the same study. :: The Group is ranked 20th in a study on the 'Best Employers in India', conductedby Hewitt Associates and Bus i ness Tod a

y . :: Hindalco receives the Asian CSR Award for its "Rural Poverty AlleviationProgramme". The Asian CSR Awards are Asia's premier awards programme oncorporate social responsibility. :: The Group acquires the Mount Gordon Copper mines in Australia, another strategic step in becoming a globally competitive copper player.

:: Indian Rayon acquires TransWorks, a leading Indian ITES / BPO company. :: The board of engineering major Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) decides todemerge its cement business into a separate cement company (CemCo), inwhich L&T will retain 20 per cent of its equity with the balance to bedistributed to their shareholders in proportion to their shareholding in L&T. Asa consequence, Grasim to acquire an 8.5 per cent equity stake from L&T andthen make an open offer for 30 per cent of the equity of CemCo, to acquiremanagement control of CemCo. :: The Group divests its entire 37.38 per cent equity stake in Mangalore Refineriesand Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC). :: Birla Copper acquires the Nifty Copper Mines in Australia, as part of a strategicplan to make the company an integrated copper producer, and source rawmaterial for its copper smelter at Dahej, Gujarat. :: Indian Rayon formally launches its insulators joint venture with NGK Insulators Ltd., Japan, christening it as "Birla NGK Insulators Private Limited. :: Birla Copper, a strategic business unit of Hindalco, is accorded London MetalExchange (LME) registration. Its copper cathodes are approved as 'Grade A'copper brand by LME. 2002 :: The Grasim board approves an open offer for purchase of up to 20 per cent of the equity of L&T, in accordance with the provisions and guidelines issued bythe Securities & Exchange Board of India Regulations, 1997. :: Grasim increases stake in L&T to 14.15 per cent (351.84 lakh shares). :: Landmark corporate restructuring of Hindalco and Indo Gulf. The fertiliser business of Indo Gulf to be demerged into a separate company called Indo Gulf Fertilisers. Indo Gulf's copper business to be merged with Hindalco, creating anon-ferrous metals powerhouse. :: Grasim divests its Gwalior unit to Melodeon Exports Limited, and consolidatedtextile operations at a single location in Bhiwani, MP, which will manufactureboth 'Grasim' and 'Graviera' brands. :: PSI Data Systems acquires Birla Technologies Ltd, bringing the Group ITservices business under one umbrella. :: Indal acquires a controlling stake in Anapurna Foils Ltd (AFL), to augment itsposition in the foil and packaging sectors. Subsequently AFL is merged withIndal. :: The Group receives T h e Econom i cT i mes ' "Corporate Citizen" of the year award. 2001 :: Grasim acquires 2.50 crore shares representing just over 10 per cent of theequity in L&T from Reliance Industries Ltd. ::

Birla Consultancy & Software Services spun off; becomes a separate entitycalled Birla Technologies Ltd. :: Indian Rayon acquires a stake in PSI Data Systems, in one of the largest cashtransactions in the Indian technology sector. :: Grasim closes its pulp plant at Mavoor as a part of its restructuring initiatives. 2000 :: Indian Rayon acquires Madura Garments and selected overseas brand rights,taking the Group to the top of the league in the branded apparels sector. :: The Group forays into e-business through a strategic alliance of its softwarearm, Birla Software and Consultancy Services (BCSS), with Lawson Software(USA). :: 'Gyanodaya', the Institute of Management Learning of the Aditya Birla Group,inaugurated. :: Hindalco acquires Indal. The Indal board is reconstituted. Mr Kumar MangalamBirla became Indal's new chairman. The Group holding went up to 74.6 per cent, and further increased to 96 per cent in FY03. :: The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) grants registration inprinciple to Birla Sun Life Insurance Company. :: Indian Rayon acquires major world rights for international apparel brands LouisPhilippe, Allen Solly and Peter England. :: The Group announces its intention to launch a 450 MW 'Green Power Project'in Karnataka . :: The merger of Birla AT&T and Tata Cellular is completed. 1999 :: A joint venture with financial services major Sun Life of Canada is inked, aspart of the overall restructuring of the Group's financial services business. 1998 :: The Group forms a 50:50 joint venture company with Tembec Inc. of Canada,called A.V. Cell Inc., to supply pulp for the Group's VSF operations. :: Grasim acquires Dharani Cement and Shree Digvijay Cement to consolidate theGroup's leadership position in cement. :: The cement businesses of Indian Rayon and Grasim are consolidated into asingle division of Grasim the biggest restructuring ever by any corporateentity in India. :: The Group forays into copper with the commissioning of Indo Gulf's copper smelter the largest of its kind in India. :: Thai Organic Chemicals begins commercial operations of chlor-alkali andepichlorohydrin