The aluminium-to-telecom conglomerate Aditya Birla Group chairman belongs to the marwari community, where vegetarianism forms an important part of life and is a "core belief", so much so that no meat was ever cooked at the cafeterias in any of its offices and facilities and none of the company functions had wine or whiskey served ever.This was till the time the group bought a
business in Australia, where Foster's beer and barbecues form part of daily life of a vast majority of factory workers and others."Expanding internationally is hard, risky work. And as I was reminded the first time I saw butter chicken being served in a Birla canteen, the most difficult challenges turn out to be the ones you least expect," says 46-year-old Birla.Birla, who runs a $40-billion multinational group operating in 36 countries with overseas operations contributing for over 50 per cent of revenues, further said that "If we wanted to make a mark on the world, we had to be prepared for the world to leave a mark on us."
