Deveshwar eyes ₹1 Lcr revenue for ITC by 2030
KOLKATA: Setting an ambitious target of ₹1 lakh-crore revenue for ITC as India’s top FMCG player by 2030, its outgoing chief executive YC Deveshwar on Friday said the growth of tobacco business will continue to be good for shareholders of the diversified group.
He rejected suggestions that the non-tobacco businesses of the group should be made to grow faster than the tobacco business, but rued that ITC’s investment plans were getting delayed due to the long time required for getting approvals.
Addressing shareholders of ITC at the annual general meeting (AGM) for the last time in his joint capacity as chairman and CEO, 69-yearold Deveshwar said the strategy to pursue multiple drivers of growth has led to a 17-fold growth in the company’s noncigarette businesses since 1996, registering a net segment revenue of ₹23,000 crore.
“Compared to the size of ITC in 1996, the non-cigarette businesses alone represent a size akin to creating 5 ITCs of that time,” said Deveshwar, who has been heading the company for almost two decades.
During the April-June quarter, ITC’s revenue from cigarettes rose 6.42% to ₹8,230.60 crore, from ₹7,733.43 crore in the year-ago period.
The company has planned multiple projects with an outlay of ₹25,000 crore over the next five years, he said, adding, “We are not competing within the company”.
When one shareholder pointed out that ITC was sitting on a huge pile of cash, Deveshwar said: “We want to consume every penny, but the main problem is getting approvals. It takes a long time to get permission which delays investment plans”.
Referring to Patanjali, he said, “I am proud that it has built an Indian brand...we must salute that”. Competition was good, he added. “Even that is true for Amul. One will like these brands to prosper. It is our aspiration to make ITC an Indian MNC. But charity begins at home. ITC will first focus on the domestic market.”
Regarding investments in West Bengal, he said that two new plants would be ready by September and early next year. Besides, ITC was already coming up with a 1.6 million-square-foot hotel next to the existing ITC Sonar in Kolkata, he said.