Aditya Birla Group forays into branded jewellery retail business, to invest Rs 5,000 cr

Aditya Birla Group has forayed into the branded jewellery retail business with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore, the conglomerate said on Tuesday. This is the group's third major foray into a new business in the last two years after paints, and B2B e-commerce for building materials.

The company said that this business will be housed in a new venture, 'Novel Jewels Ltd', engaged in building large-format jewellery retail stores across India, with in-house jewellery brands.

"This foray is a strategic portfolio choice that allows us to tap into new growth engines and expand our presence in the vibrant Indian consumer landscape. With rising disposable income, discerning and aspirational consumers are leaning more towards design-led, bespoke, and high-quality jewellery," said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group.

ET in November 2022 had reported that the conglomerate was setting up an all-new separate business venture for branded jewellery, to directly rival Tata group's Tanishq.

The $60 billion conglomerate's flagship companies include Grasim Industries, Hindalco, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail and Aditya Birla Capital among many others. At group level, it has about 140,000 employees.

In June, Aditya Birla Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Group, co-led a fund raise in silver jewellery-focused startup GIVA and raised Series B funding. "We believe silver jewellery, in particular, is ripe for significant growth across both online as well as offline channels," Aryaman Vikram Birla, founder of Aditya Birla Ventures, had said at the time of announcing the venture.

With revenue of ₹8,136 crore as on March 31, 2022, ABFRL's fashion brands and retail formats operate across a network of 3,487 stores and over 30,000 multi-brand outlets.Birla said in an address at the company's AGM that its projected revenue of ₹21,000 crore for year 2026 would surpass that target and set even higher milestones for the business going forward.