Aditya Birla group to spend ₹2,000 crore on an MSME e-commerce venture

• Grasim Industries announces foray into a business-to-business e-commerce platform for building materials.
• The platform will focus on MSMEs in the building materials segment.
• The building materials procurement Industry grew by 14% over the last three years

Grasim Industries, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, announced its foray into a business-to-business e-commerce platform for building materials. It intends to invest ₹2,000 crore in the next five years.

“This investment adds a new high-growth engine with clear adjacencies within Grasim’s standalone businesses as also that of its subsidiaries and associate companies,” said the company in a statement.

The new platform will focus on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the building materials segment and will be operated by a newly recruited leadership team from the digital ecosystem.


“The foray into B2B e-commerce is yet another strategic portfolio choice as it crystallizes our intent to invest in the new-age, high growth digital space. The building materials segment presents a huge scalable business opportunity with a proven path to profitability,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group.

The overall building materials procurement Industry in India has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% over the last three years. This industry is estimated at $100 billion with current digital penetration of just 2%.

“With this foray, Grasim would be able to leverage the large B2B ecosystem within the Aditya Birla Group,” Birla added.

The company believes that B2B e-commerce is a high growth opportunity with attractive long-term returns and will be highly value accretive to its stakeholders.

“The key value proposition would be an integrated procurement solution including on-time delivery and a superior product range at competitive pricing,” the company further added.

In May, the company also announced that it is doubling its capex plans in the paint segment to ₹10,000 crore.

Grasim is a global producer of Viscose Staple Fibre and Viscose Filament Yarn, the one of the largest Chlor-Alkali, advanced material, linen yarn and fabrics producers in India.

The group also made its entry into the paints business and has six plants across India locations. Its subsidiaries — UltraTech Cement and Aditya Birla Capital — are one of India’s largest cement producers and a leading diversified financial services player in India.

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