NEW DELHI: Entrepreneur Sidharth Birla is the new Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) president for the year 2014.

Birla will assume office in his new role at the conclusion of the 86th Annual General Meeting of FICCI slated to be held on 21 December in New Delhi.

Welcoming the announcement, current FICCI president Naina Lal Kidwai said, “I have worked closely with Sid over the past two years and have no doubt that FICCI will benefit enormously from his leadership and continuing engagement at FICCI.”

Aged 56 years, Birla holds an MBA Degree from IMEDE (now IMD), Switzerland and a Science Degree (Honors in Physics) from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.

He is a company director and entrepreneur with core business interests in manufacturing. He is chairman of Xpro India - a polymers processing company where he is also the founder, and of Digjam, manufacturer of woollen worsted suiting fabrics. He has financial sector interests and links in private buess,sin and an enduring connect with corporate laws, having chaired FICCI's Corporate Laws Committee for an extended period. He is a government nominee on the Central Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (now in his third such term).

Birla is a trustee on some family educational and philanthropic bodies, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani.