Sanjiv Puri moves a step closer to ITC top job
Made chief operating officer of firm
Cigarettes-to-hotels major ITC has appointed Sanjiv Puri chief operating officer (COO) with immediate effect, ending years of speculation as to who would succeed its longest serving chairman, Yogesh Chander Deveshwar.
In a filing with the stock exchanges, the company said the board of directors, at a meeting on July 22 redesignated wholetime director Puri as COO with immediate effect.
Puri's elevation is not a surprise, he was moving closer to the top job for a while. In 2014, Puri, 53, was made president of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business, a position carved out for him that first set off speculation he was being groomed for a bigger role. Last December, he was elevated to the board.
ITC has till February to name a successor for Deveshwar. In June, the company announced Deveshwar would slip into a non-executive role from February, but would continue as non-executive chairman for another three years.
When Deveshwar assumes a non-executive role next year, Puri is likely to step into his shoes as chief executive officer. Currently Deveshwar is chairman and CEO.
Despite the controversies and challenges the tournament faced in its debut year, Premier Futsal promoter and chairman Xavier Britto is confident of the sport’s future in India, and intends to bring the league back for its second season in January next year.
The new season will have eight instead of six teams and will take place at more venues around the country.
“The response we got for the first season has been very good. Most of the matches saw stadiums drawing above 90 per cent occupancy. We noticed a lot of young women enjoyed the games as well. It’s a good start for sure,” says Britto.
The new teams could be from Pune, Vizag or Delhi, and the new venues could be Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
Premier Futsal was held last week across two venues – Chennai and Goa with Sunday night seeing Mumbai win the finals. A total of six teams participated with a 12-player squad each.
The tournament was aired on channels across Sony Pictures Network India and also was available on Facebook Live, the new video platform of the social networking site. This is was another first for an Indian league.
Britto adds that the success of the tournament can be gauged from the response it received on social media with an organic reach of 12 million on Facebook and 3.5 million impressions on Twitter in July.
The promoter also hopes to have a good sponsorship run in the second season. “This year, we were not very aggressive. It’s a new sport and format. In India, there is a wait-and-watch period for anything new. Now, when people have seen the quality of the games, and that audiences can be interested in the tournament, I am sure we’ll have brand associations. We have already got requests, and from international brands,” says Britto.
The league is looking at finalising the title sponsor for the tournament in the coming weeks, and will be looking at longterm partners; those willing to commit for at least three years.