Mumbai, Sept. 3 -- After making a series of new business bets and large acquisitions over the past three years-from paints and renewable energy to the Indian Premier League and cement-the Aditya Birla Group is now entering the wires and cables segment with an Rs.1,800-crore investment.

Housed under the group's cement unit UltraTech, the new business, named UltraVolt, aims to become one of India's top two wires and cables players within five years, according to group chair Kumar Mangalam Birla. The company will take on industry leaders such as Polycab India, KEI Industries and Havells India.

For this business, Aditya Birla is using the playbook it first deployed in the paints market with Opus. The strategy involves entering the sector wi...