Calling It a Day

Anyone who has met both Y.C. Deveshwar, synonymous with ITC, and Sanjiv Puri, the new MD & CEO, knows that they are strikingly different physically that is. And as Puri takes the mantle from Deveshwar, to expect him to slide effortlessly into his mentor's giant shoes may be unfair. But, thanks to some early thinking by Deveshwar, it may not be very difficult either. Deveshwar has, for the past few years, been involving Puri closely in strategy making and grooming him for February 5, 2017, the day Deveshwar, then 70, quit the executive leadership role and Puri took over as the CEO (he was re designated as Managing Director effective May 16, 2018). For Deveshwar, who joined ITC in 1968 and has over the 21 years that he has been at the helm turned this tobacco company into an FMCG giant, passing the baton successfully to Puri might count among his biggest successes.

And this is exactly what