Someone is taking on Adani

It takes a #billionaire to take on another billionaire. Kumaramangalam #birla is doing something few people in India would dream of doing. He is taking the fight to #adani. The cement industry is where all this action is playing out. Adani is paying $10.5 bn to buy out the #holcim stakes in #ambujacement and #ACC. That gives Adani a capacity of 72 mn tonnes which is 12% of the Indian #cementindustry. #ultratechcement is the market leader at 120 mn tonnes, 20% market share. Birla has been quick to respond. They have announced a capex of Rs 12900 crores to increase its cement capacity by 22 mn tonnes. This works out to $75 per tonne of capacity. Adani is paying almost twice of that number for acquisition. One is buying at a premium. The other one is building cheap. Birla has also diversified into paints in a big way. Lets wait and see how this plays out. what do you do when a formidable competitor enters your field? Fight or flight? Look at Kumaramangalam Birla's family history to get an idea. His great grandfather Ghanshyam Birla took on the British, while supporting Gandhi. The battle lines are drawn in India's massive building materials industry. Adani. Asian Paints. Birla. What do you think will happen? #leader #interviewingskills #currentaffairs #interviewquestions