Century Textiles: B.K. Birla's succession plan folded cement into UltraTech

Basant Kumar Birla, who ran his group into his late nineties, had no son to succeed him. Rather than leave the question open, he published a succession plan: grandson Kumar Mangalam Birla, already chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, would take over the flagship Century Textiles and Century Enka, while daughter Manjushree Khaitan would run Kesoram jointly with Kumar Mangalam, daughter Jayshree Mohta would inherit Jay Shree Tea, and granddaughter Vidula Jalan would take Mangalam Cement and Mangalam Timber.

The plan's first big move came in May 2018, when UltraTech agreed to absorb Century's cement business, 13.4 MTPA of cement plus 8.5 MTPA of clinker, at an enterprise value of Rs 8,621 crore including Rs 3,000 crore of debt. The deal pushed UltraTech past 100 million tonnes of capacity and made it the third-largest cement player globally outside China.

What remained of Century, paper and pulp, textiles, chemicals and crucially land, was re-founded around Birla Estates, the group's real estate subsidiary. In September 2024 Century bought a 10-acre Worli parcel from Nusli Wadia for Rs 1,100 crore, ending a long legal dispute and taking its contiguous Worli holding to roughly 30 acres with about Rs 28,000 crore of booking-value potential.

Cement sold at Rs 8,621 crore EV; by 2024 Century's Worli land alone carried about Rs 28,000 crore of booking-value potential under Birla Estates.

B.K. Birla made his succession plan public while alive, removing the ambiguity that usually turns inheritances into court battles.

Cement went into the grandson's stronger platform rather than staying in a company too small to fund its own capacity race.

The remaining company was rebuilt around an underpriced asset, mill land in central Mumbai, that the textiles business had been carrying for decades.

Each family branch received a distinct business, so the settlement created owners instead of claimants.

Publish the succession plan and match each asset to the heir who can grow it. A clean split that routes businesses into stronger hands prevents both family feuds and value decay.

B.K. Birla died in July 2019 at 98, with the plan already running: Rajashree Birla replaced him as chairman of Pilani Investments, the holding company, in March 2019. The UltraTech combination completed, and under Birla Estates the re-founded Century turned its Worli land into a premium housing franchise; the Wadia parcel alone added about Rs 14,000 crore of booking-value potential, on top of the land Century already held.