Grasim enters B$2$B e$-$commerce in building material

Grasim Industries, an Aditya Birla group company, today approved its foray into B$2$B e

commerce in the building materials segment with an investment of $2,000$ crore over 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. The company is

spending Rs$10,000$ crore in new paints business and will launch its products by early $2024.$

The group owns India's $-$largest cement company with a capacity of $120$ million tonnes per

annum.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the $$60$ billion revenue Aditya Birla Group, said the

B$2$B e$-$commerce foray is yet another strategic portfolio choice as it crystallises the group's

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. With this

foray, Grasim would be able to leverage the large B$2$B ecosystem within the Aditya Birla

Group," Birla said.

This move will also catalyse the growth of the MSME universe in India and provide an

impetus to the Government's vision of 'Digital India', he said.

The overall building materials procurement segment in India has grown at an annual rate of $14$

per cent in the last $3$ years. This industry is estimated at about $$100$ billion with current digital

penetration of just $2$ per cent.

The platform will primarily focus on medium$-$ and small$-$sized companies 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.

a$)$ Which is the segment that Grasim is getting into? What is the strategy to get into the

segment and capture the market? $(5$ marks$)$

b$)$ What are the future plans of Grasim? How does it plan to increase its reach and how is it

planning to build up is its chosen segment?