Udit Prasanna Mukherji/TNN
 
Kolkata, Nov 27: Basant Kumar Birla, the oldest member of the Birla family, is all set to change his succession plan again. The revised plan will now offer more to his two daughters.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, B K Birla’s grandson (from son Aditya Vikram), will still get the major chunk of the Rs 9,000-crore-plus empire, but his slice of the pie this time round has shrunk against what was originally announced by the octogenarian industrialist last year.

In an exclusive interview, B K Birla told TOI that ECE Industries Ltd will now go to son-in-law P K Mohta, elder daughter Jayshree’s husband. Mohta has already started managing the Rs 200-crore ECE Industries, which manufactures elevators. He was earlier supposed to get only Jayshree Tea & Industries.

“My son-in-law Mohta will get ECE Industries. He is now managing the show in the company,’’ Birla said on Wednesday. Incidentally, market records show that P K Mohta has acquired over 3% stake in ECE through market purchase and inter-se-transfer in mid-November.

B K Birla had earlier said that ECE and Mangalam Cement would most likely be handed over to Kumar Mangalam Birla along with Century Textiles, Kesoram and Century Enka. With ECE now going to PK Mohta, there is speculation about whether Kumar Mangalam Birla will get to keep Mangalam Cement and Kesoram as well.

It is being felt, though this could not be confirmed separately, that Kumar Mangalam is unwilling to add more his plate, given that his conglomerate AV Birla Group—which includes Grasim, Hindalco and Aditya Birla Nuvo, apart from a host of other Indian and international companies—is already taking up most of his managerial time and energies. In addition, he now has to devote time to Century Textiles, Century Enka and Kesoram.

Interestingly, B K Birla also indicated that Manjushree Khaitan, his younger daughter, too, will get more. However, he refused to divulge the details of what “more’’ means. Manjushree now heads Manjushree Plantations and Manjushree Infotech, both of which are considered ‘small’ companies.

“Manjushree will get something more. But I have not yet decided about this. My grand-daughter Vidula (Jalan) will continue to manage Mangalam Timber,’’ the patriarch said. Vidula is Manjushree’s daughter. Interestingly, NSE data shows Vidula has bought some additional shares in Mangalam Timber from the open market. Even Jayshree Mohta has bought some additional shares of Jayshree Tea from the open market.

When asked whether Manjushree Khaitan’s share will be enhanced through a split in multi-product Kesoram, B K Birla said that there was no such plan as of now. But he did add that his daughters could be accommodated in the diversified outfit though it will be headed by Kumar Mangalam. Sources close to the Birla family said Manjushree might head some divisions of Kesoram Industries.

Kesoram has a turnover close to Rs 3,500 crore. According to the first succession plan, it was supposed to go to Manjushree Khaitan, but last year B K Birla said his grandson would inherit the company. The tyre and cement division of Kesoram together contribute to over 80% of Kesoram’s turnover. Besides, it has other divisions like rayon and transparent paper, spun pipes and heavy chemicals. The aggregate turnover of the non-tyre and non-cement business is close to Rs 270 crore.

According to the sources, B K is also likely to take a final decision about Mangalam Cement soon. Mangalam Cement has a turnover of over Rs 500 crore.