Aditya Birla Group, which has presence in 36 countries, is keen on creating regional champions in whichever country it has a presence in.

Answering a questions at the Qatar Economic Forum, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said “We are looking at regionalism as a very big theme. Regional hubs, regional presence, regional employment, catering to regional demand. I would say we are a global company but rooted in local economics.”

Different countries follow different policies to create homegrown champions. Even globalisation needs to have a very sharp dimension of regionalisation to it, said Birla, who spearheads the $46- billion Aditya Birla Group.

The Group is no longer keen to acquire any firm with a globally diversified supply chain as protectionism and the pandemic have increasingly curbed the movement of products and people, he added.

“We would not look at a company or a business where you source in one corner of the world and sell in another corner of the world. That’s a reset that has happened on account of growing protectionism,” he said.

The Birla Group, which has a presence across metals, cement, textile, telecom and financial services, had made series of acquisitions in the last few years. For instance, Hindalco Industries closed $2.8-billion deal to acquire one of the world's aluminium company Aleris even at the peak of Covid disruption.

The Group is now focused on creating regional champions to avoid getting trapped in an increasingly divided world.

Each and every country want to close its borders to bailout their economy ravaged by the unprecedented Covid pandemic.

This has disrupted the global supply chain and hit the manufacturing sector which is now looking for local sourcing.

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