Aditya Birla Group flagship Grasim forays into B2B e-commerce space, plans ₹2,000 cr investment

Grasim Industries Ltd, an Aditya Birla group company, on Tuesday announced the launch of a new B2B ecommerce platform for building materials. The company will invest ₹2,000 crore over the next 5 years, it said in a regulatory filing.

The Building Materials segment presents a huge scalable business opportunity with a proven path to profitability, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has said.

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, the company said.

The Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group further said, “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."

"With this foray, Grasim would be able to leverage the large B2B ecosystem within the Aditya Birla Group. This move will also catalyze the growth of the MSME universe in India and provide an impetus to the Government’s vision of ‘Digital India’,” Birla added.

The overall building materials procurement segment in India has grown at a CAGR of 14% over the last 3 years. This industry is estimated at $100 billion with current digital penetration of just 2%, the company said in a press release. 

Grasim’s digital platform will address various challenges within the existing supply chain.

The platform will primarily focus on MSMEs in the Building Materials segment with the potential to further extend to other relevant categories. The key value proposition would be an integrated procurement solution including on-time delivery and a superior product range at competitive pricing.

This platform will be operated by a newly recruited leadership team from the digital ecosystem.

“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,” it further said.