Birla group swaps heads of food retail, textile arms

The AV Birla group has reshuffled the top deck at its lifestyle fashion and food retail businesses in what the $35-billion conglomerate has called a periodic rotation of top talent.

Thomas Varghese, Aditya Birla Retail's chief executive, will now head the group's textile division. He will be replaced by Pranab Barua, chief executive of the textiles & apparel division at Aditya Birla Nuvo.

"We keep rotating our people in leadership roles to help create more value by leveraging their experience in other businesses and give multiple exposures to them which accelerate their leadership development," Santrupt Misra, Group HR and director, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Ltd, said, according to an Economic Times report.

The group's textile business includes Jay Shree Textile and Grasim Bhiwani Textiles and owns well-known brands Grasim and Graviera Suitings.

While Aditya Birla Retail is still incurring losses, it is slowly moving on a positive trajectory.

The group's retail venture, which grew 16 per cent to Rs1,637 crore in the year ended March 2011, is the third largest supermarket firm in the country after the Future Group's Big Bazaar and Reliance Retail.