Ananya Birla is from the fifth generation of a family business whose founding father was Ghanshyam Das Birla and the eldest daughter of Aditya Birla Group Chairperson Kumar Mangalam Birla. The former pop singer is at the helm of a transition that will see a commodities-heavy conglomerate now sporting a more consumer-facing profile.
Ananya, who founded Svatantra Microfin more than a decade ago, will count on her entrepreneurial instincts as she plays a deeper role in businesses like the recently started Birla Opus in the paints sector. As she tells Salil Panchal, “This is a fantastic time to enter into consumer businesses and we have the right to win there, with the trust factor that we have." For more on her game plan, don’t miss Panchal’s ‘One Of Her Kind’.
The other woman leading the way is Nyrika Holkar, from the fourth generation of a group founded by brothers Ardeshir and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej in 1897. Nyrika is the niece of Jamshyd Godrej, chairperson & managing director of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship of the newly-created Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG). GEG, which includes companies in sectors like aerospace and precision engineering, is one of two arms of the Godrej conglomerate that announced an amicable division of its businesses in end-April.
Nyrika, executive director of Godrej & Boyce, has a mentor in Jamshyd Godrej, who may be grooming her to pick up the baton. So what does leadership mean to Nyrika? “It’s about being able to steward the assets of the company, the brand, and leave it in a better place than we found it," she tells Jasodhara Banerjee. For more on how Nyrika is bringing her collaborative approach to a 127-year-old enterprise, Banerjee’s ‘Next-Gen Nation-Builders’ is a must read.
India is a land of family businesses, and also a must read are those handpicked up by Rajiv Singh, from Pune to Ahmedabad, where the next-gen is driving the family legacy forward.
Best,Brian CarvalhoEditor, Forbes IndiaEmail: Brian.Carvalho@nw18.comX ID: @Brianc_Ed
First Published: Aug 26, 2024, 10:54
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