| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1919[1] |
| Founder(s) | Lala Karamchand Thapar |
| Headquarters | Gurgaon[2], India |
| Key people | Gautam Thapar, Chairman and CEO [3] |
| Revenue | US$ 4 Billion (2010) |
| Employees | 20,000 (2010) |
| Website | avanthagroup.com |
Avantha Group is an Indian business conglomerate in India chaired by Gautam Thapar. The US$ 4 billion company is one of India’s largest business conglomerates. Its businesses include power generation and distribution, power transmission and distribution equipment and services, paper and pulp, food processing, farming, forestry, chemicals, infrastructure, Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Service (ITeS), also referred to as business process outsourcing (BPO).[3]
Avantha Group operates in fifteen countries with 20,000 employees. Business units include, Crompton Greaves, (CG) India’s largest power transmission and distribution equipment company, and Ballarpur Industries (BILT), India’s largest paper manufacturer, both listed on the Indian Stock exchanges. CG acquired Pauwels (Belgium) in 2005, Ganz (Hungary) in 2006, Microsol (Ireland) in 2007, Sonomatra (France) in 2008, MSE Power Systems (USA) in 2008 and Power Technology Solutions (UK) in 2010. BILT acquired Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) of Malaysia in 2007. Another group entity, The Global Green Company, acquired Intergarden (Belgium) and Puszta Konzerv (Hungary), while in 2010, the group announced the acquisition of US-based Pyramid Healthcare Solutions, a healthcare BPO firm.
Other group entities include Solaris ChemTech Industries, Avantha Power & Infrastructure, Biltech Building Elements, Salient Business Solutions and Avantha Technologies. Solaris ChemTech Industries is India’s largest manufacturer of bromine, brominated flame retardants, specialty bromine chemicals, and orthophosphoric acid. Avantha Power & Infrastructure is involved in power generation, while Biltech Building Elements manufactures lightweight autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) from fly ash. Salient Business Solutions and Avantha Technologies are IT and IT-enabled services companies. [4]