AB InBev, Airtel lead second cluster 2 of IIM Ahmedabad placements

Unlike many other B-schools, IIM Ahmedabad follows a cluster system of final placements process where sectors are invited in cohorts at regular intervals.

Consumer goods and consumer services majors AB InBev and Airtel led the second cluster of final placements process for the two-year post graduate programme (PGP) batch of 2020 at IIM Ahmedabad.

Including pre-placement offers (PPOs), while AB InBev made the highest number of offers at eight, Airtel extended seven.

IIM Ahmedabad follows a cluster system of final placements process where sectors are invited in cohorts at regular intervals. The first cluster of the final placement process for the PGP class of 2020 at IIM Ahmedabad comprised six cohorts including advertising & media, consumer goods, consumer services, consumer electronics, general management & leadership as well as retail B2B & B2C.

Among the general management cohort, CK Birla Group made the highest number of offers at six.

Apart from AB InBev and Airtel, the consumer goods, consumer services and consumer electronics cohorts included regular recruiters like Asian Paints, CavinKare, Dabur, ITC, Lenovo, L’Oreal, Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Samsung, Tata Sky and Wipro.

The General Management and Leadership cohort comprised regular recruiters such as the Aditya Birla Group, CK Birla Group, Reliance Industries Limited and Tata Administrative Services, while the Retail B2B & B2C cohort consisted of firms like Amazon, eShakti and Apparel Group among others. New recruiters, including Colgate and Diageo, also participated in the process.

Having always had a healthy mix of diverse cohorts, a variety of roles were offered across geographies including UAE during the second cluster. In all, consumer goods firms extended the highest number of offers, closely followed by consumer services and general management firms.

Where politicians invest: Mutual funds, RIL, and even Kingfisher Airlines

Rahul Gandhi has disclosed equity holding in Young Indian and investments in several mutual funds.

Fixed deposits and tax-free bonds seem to be among the most favoured financial investments for the political leaders fighting the Lok Sabha polls, while mutual funds and stocks also adorn the portfolios of many and some even have got shares of long-defunct firms like Kingfisher Airlines.

Shares of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the country’s most valued company with a market capitalistion of over Rs 8.82 trillion, can be found in the portfolios of several leaders, while stocks and mutual fund units of the firms from younger brother Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group are also a common sight, as per disclosures made in election affidavits of the contestants.

However, some top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have no stock market or mutual fund exposure at all and their financial savings are limited to deposits in banks, tax-free bonds, insurance policies and instruments like National Savings Certificate.

The direct equity investments for a few are limited to unlisted companies, including those owned by their families.

BJP President Amit Shah has disclosed a long list of listed and unlisted shares in his name and in the name of his spouse. The listed shares in his name, totalling over Rs 17.5 crore, include companies from Aditya Birla Group, Bajaj, L&T, Tata and both Reliance groups, as also several PSUs.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has disclosed equity holding in Young Indian and investments in several mutual funds. The portfolio of his mother and senior party leader Sonia Gandhi includes equity shares of Young Indian and Maruti Technical Services Pvt Ltd and mutual fund units of HDFC, Kotak, Motilal Oswal and Reliance MF.

Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule, daughter of veteran leader Sharad Pawar, has got unlisted shares worth over Rs 1 crore and listed shares worth over Rs 6 crore, besides some mutual funds. The listed shares include those of Adani Group firms, the two Reliance groups, several Tata firms and even Kingfisher Airlines as also of some other companies from the erstwhile UB Group, including United Spirits which was sold by defaulter businessman Vijay Mallya to global liquor giant Diageo Plc. Kingfisher shares have long been delisted from the stock exchanges, though they quoted at above Rs 300 apiece once. The stocks eventually slipped below Rs 1 and trading was eventually suspended in 2014-end after mounting troubles for the erstwhile luxury airline had led to its closure.

Business Standard

Hindalco Industries eyes lithium to strengthen its aluminium business

The company, part of the $44.3-billion Aditya Birla Group, is looking for the minor mineral via its mining arm, Essel Mining & Industries (EMIL).

Hindalco Industries is eyeing lithium in the minor mineral space in order to strengthen its aluminium business. “Lithium is the closest to our (aluminium) business, and in India, there could be some opportunities in this minor mineral. We are watching. If we get an opportunity we will get into this minor mineral,” said Satish Pai, managing director of the company.

(Business Standard)

The country’s largest aluminium producer has captive bauxite mines in Jharkhand, Chattishgarh, Maharashtra, and Odisha. Bauxite is raw material needed to make alumina from which aluminium is derived.

The company, part of the $44.3-billion Aditya Birla Group, is looking for the minor mineral via its mining arm, Essel Mining & Industries (EMIL).

ALSO READ: Hindalco to invest Rs 60 bn in downstream facilities in four years

Currently, Essel Mining is into contract coal and iron ore mining, and operates in 35 countries. “It is Essel Mining, the group’s mining arm, which is looking into this,” Pai said, without divulging any detail about a timeline.

Located in the mineral-rich Barbil-Barajamda belt of Odisha, Essel Mining’s calibrated iron ore lump and iron ore fines, with iron content between 62-66 per cent, are considered the best quality in the country.

Lithium and manganese are the most common alloys used with aluminium. This is used in the aerospace industry. Apart from aluminium, Hindalco’s copper division, Birla Copper, operates one of the largest single-location custom copper smelters.

The custom copper smelter at Dahej in Gujarat has three copper smelters, three refineries, two rod plants, a captive power plant, a captive oxygen plant, phosphoric acid plant, diammonium phosphate plant, precious metal recovery plant, captive jetty and other utilities.

Lithium has wide application in batteries for mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles. Global prices of lithium have moved up in the past five years but have been declining since past few months.

E-commerce, FMCG top recruiters in second cluster of IIM-A placements

CK Birla Group emerges top recruiter in second cluster with 10 offers including PPOs.

E-commerce and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies such as Amazon, Flipkart, Nestlé, P&G and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) led the second cluster of the 2017-19 placement season for the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

The second cluster comprised six cohorts: Advertising & Media, Consumer Goods, Consumer Services, Consumer Electronics, General Management and Leadership, Retail B2B & B2C.

Unlike many other B-schools, IIM-A follows a cluster system of placements where sectors are invited in cohorts at regular intervals. Earlier, the first cluster comprised five cohorts -- investment banking and markets, management consulting, private equity, venture capital and asset management.

Among the cohorts in the second cluster, the highest number of offers (including pre-placement ones) were extended by general management firms that offered leadership roles in conglomerates across geographies, followed by consumer goods companies.

The C K Birla Group made the highest number of offers at 10, followed by Aditya Birla Group, Flipkart and Samsung that extended nine positions each. In the first cluster, Accenture was the top recruiter, extending 24 offers including PPOs.

Consumer goods, consumer services and consumer electronics cohorts included regular recruiters such as AB InBev, Asian Paints, HUL, General Mills, Indian Tobacco Company (ITC), Mondeléz, Nestlé, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser and Samsung. The general management and leadership cohort comprised recruiters such as the Aditya Birla Group, C K Birla Group, Emaar Properties, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance, RPG and Tata Administrative Services, while the retail B2B & B2C cohort consisted of firms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra among others.

IIM-A's Post-Graduate Programme in Food and Agribusiness Management (PGP-FABM) too saw 30 companies participate in its final placement process. Major recruiters were Godrej Agrovet, PI Industries, Jain Irrigation, Pioneering Ventures, Ninjacart and Waycool extended 3 offers each.

First-time recruiters for the agri-business programme included Ernst and Young (EY), RBL Bank and Reliance Foundation. Other regular recruiters included Cloudtail, Reckitt Benckiser, ADM, and KPMG, apart from start-ups in the agribusiness domain like Agrostar, Gramophone, and Our Foods.

Meanwhile, the third cluster of PGP final placements would be conducted on 14 February 2019.

Article Source BS