ITC Limited

Type Public
Tradedas BSE:500875
NSE:ITC
BSE SENSEX Constituent
CNX Nifty Constituent
Industry Conglomerate

Predecessor W.D. & H.O. Wills

Founded 24 August 1910[1][2]

(as Imperial Tobacco Company of India)
Headquarters Kolkata, West Bengal, India[3]
Key people Yogesh Chander Deveshwar, (Chairman), Sanjiv Puri, (Chief Executive Officer), [4]
Products Consumer goods
Tobacco
Hotels
Agribusiness
Paperboards & specialty papers
Packaging
Information technology
Revenue 53,748 crore (US$8.0billion) (2016)[5]
Operating income 15,037 crore (US$2.2billion) (2015)[5]
Net income 9,607 crore (US$1.4billion) (2015)[5]
Total assets 32,159 crore (US$4.8billion) (2015)[5]
Number of employees 25,959 (Mar 2013)[6]
Divisions ITC Infotech, Surya Nepal Pvt. Ltd.

Website www.itcportal.com

ITC Limited or ITC is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.[3] Its
diversified business includes five segments: Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Hotels,
Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business & Information Technology.[7]

Established in 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, the company was
renamed as the Indian Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and further to I.T.C. Limited in 1974.
The periods in the name were removed in September 2001 for the company to be renamed as
ITC Ltd.[2] The company completed 100 years in 2010[8][9][10][11] and as of 2012-13, had an annual
turnover of US$8.31 billion[12] and a market capitalization of US$45 billion.[6] It employs over
25,000 people[6] at more than 60 locations across India and is part of Forbes 2000 list.

History

ITC was formed on 24 August 1910 under the name of Imperial Tobacco Company of India
Limited,[2] and the company went public on 27 October 1954.[1] The earlier decades of the
company's activities centered mainly around tobacco products. In the 1970s, it diversified into
non-tobacco businesses.[1]

In 1975, the company acquired a hotel in Chennai, which was renamed the 'ITC-Welcomgroup
Hotel Chola' (now renamed to MyFortune, Chennai).[2]

In 1985, ITC set up Surya Tobacco Co. in Nepal as an Indo-Nepali and British joint venture, with
the shares divided between ITC, British American Tobacco and various independent domestic
shareholders in Nepal. In 2002, Surya Tobacco became a subsidiary of ITC and its name was
changed to Surya Nepal Private Limited.[13]

In 2000, ITC launched the Expressions range of greeting cards,[14][15] the Wills Sport range of
casual wear,[16] and a wholly owned information technology subsidiary, ITC Infotech India
Limited.[17]

In 2001, ITC introduced the Kitchens of India brand of ready-to-eat gourmet Indian recipes,[18][19]
which are produced and sold internationally,[20] at first in cans and later in retort packages, and
more recently on line[21] and at festivals.[22]

In 2002, ITC entered the confectionery and staples segments[23][24][25] and acquired the
Bhadrachalam Paperboards Division[26] and the safety matches company WIMCO Limited.[27]

ITC entered the incense sticks or agarbattis business in 2003, selling its products under the
Mangaldeep brand.

ITC diversified into body care products in 2005.[28][29]

In 2010, ITC launched its handrolled cigar - Armenteros - in the Indian market.[30]

The company began online sales in 2014.[31]

ITC owned "Chambal Agritech LTD" an Australian "Technico PTY" subsidiary in May, 2008,
diversifying its business portal & to develop synergy between Seed Potato Production and Chip
stock supply. later the name changed to "Technico Agri Sciences Ltd" wholly owned subsidiary
of ITC Ltd.
Products and Brands

Classic Rich Taste (regular) pack of

20.

Cigarettes

ITC Ltd sells 81 percent of the cigarettes in India, where 275 million people use tobacco
products and the total cigarette market is worth close to $6 billion (around Rs.65,000 crore)
[32][33]

ITC's major cigarette brands include Wills Navy Cut, Marlboro Advance Black Gold Flake Kings,
Gold Flake Premium lights, Gold Flake Super Star, Insignia, India Kings, Classic (Verve, Menthol,
Menthol Rush, Regular, Citric Twist, Mild & Ultra Mild), 555, Silk Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley,
Bristol, Lucky Strike, Players, Flake and Duke & Royal.[34][35]

Other businesses
Foods: ITC's major food brands include Kitchens of India; Aashirvaad, Mint-o, gum-o, B natural,
Sunfeast, Candyman, Bingo! and Yippee!.[36] ITC is India's largest seller of branded foods with
sales of over Rs. 4,600 crore in 2012-13.[37] It is present across 5 categories in the Foods
business namely Staples, Snack Foods, Ready-To-Eat Foods, Juices and Confectionery.[36]

Lifestyle apparel: ITC sells its products under the Wills Lifestyle and John Players brands. Wills
Lifestyle was accorded the Superbrand status and John Players was included in the top 10
Most Trusted Apparel Brands 2012 by The Economic Times.[6]

Personal care products include perfumes, haircare and skincare categories. Major brands are
Fiama Di Wills, Vivel, Essenza Di Wills, Superia and Engage.[38][39]
 Stationery: Brands include Classmate, PaperKraft and Colour Crew.[40] Launched in 2003,
Classmate went on to become India's largest notebook brand in 2007.[41][42]

Safety Matches and Agarbattis: Ship,[43] i Kno and Aim brands of safety matches[44] and the
Mangaldeep brand of agarbattis (Incense Sticks).[45]

Hotels: ITC's Hotels division (under brands including WelcomHotel) is India's second largest
hotel chain with over 90 hotels throughout India.[46] ITC is also the exclusive franchisee in India
of two brands owned by Sheraton International Inc. Brands in the hospitality sector owned and
operated by its subsidiaries include Fortune Park Hotels and WelcomHeritage Hotels.[46]

Paperboard: Products such as specialty paper, graphic and other paper are sold under the ITC
brand by the ITC Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division like Classmate product of ITC well
known for there quality .[47]

Packaging and Printing: ITC's Packaging and Printing division operates manufacturing
facilities at Haridwar and Chennai and services domestic and export markets.[48]

Information Technology: ITC operates through its fully owned subsidiary ITC Infotech India
Limited, which is a SEI CMM Level 5 company.[49]

Shareholding and listings

ITC's equity shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange of India and
Calcutta Stock Exchange.[50][51] The company's Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on
the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.[52]

Shareholders (as on 31-March-2013) Shareholding[6]

Foreign companies (mainly British American Tobacco Company) 30.54%

Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) 19.68%

Banks, Financial Institutions, Insurance Companies and Mutual Funds 33.44%

Bodies Corporate 04.91%

Public and Others 10.59%

GDRs 00.30%

Total 100.00%

Employees

As per the Annual report of the company, it had 25,963 employees as on 31 March 2013,[6] out of
which 3,043 were women.[12] It spent Rs. 2,145 crores on Employee benefits during the FY 2012-
13.[53] During the same year, its attrition rate was 12%.[12]
Its Chairman Y C Deveshwar has won renowned awards and recognitions including Padma
Bhushan from Govt. of India[6][54][55] and 7th best performing CEO in the world by Harvard
Business Review.[56]
Meera Shankar, Indian ambassador to USA between 2009 and 2011, joined the board of ITC
Limited as the first woman director in its history.[57] She is an additional non-executive director of
the company.[58]

Outreach

e-Choupal
Main article: E-Choupal

ITC's e-Choupal initiative is designed to make the power of the Internet available to Indian
farmers.[59] The company places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages,
serving both as a social gathering place for exchange of information (choupal means gathering
place in Hindi) and an e-commerce hub. As of July 2010, services through 6,500 e-Choupal
across 10 states reach more than 4 million farmers in about 40,000 villages. The potential of e-
Choupal is also being tested through pilot projects in healthcare, educational services, water
management and cattle health management. In 2008, this initiative was recognised in the list of
"Innovations to make markets more inclusive for the poor" in World Development Report Sep-
2008 by the World Bank.[60]

ITC Sangeet Research Academy

Main article: ITC Sangeet Research Academy

ITC Sangeet Research Academy is a Hindustani classical music academy established in 1977
and located in Kolkata.[61] Some noted musicians are associated with this academy.[62]

Awards and recognitions

In 1994 and 1995, the ILTD Division in Chirala and Anaparti won the "Best of all" Rajiv Gandhi
National Quality Award[63]

ITC features on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings for 2012 at position 841.[7] In the same
rankings, the company's market value placed it as the 184th largest company in the world.[7]
Forbes has also included the company in Asia's Fab 50 Companies list.[64]

In 2013, ITC was ranked the third most admired company in India by Fortune.[65]

In 2011, all of ITCs super premium luxury hotels were accorded LEED Platinum certification,
making ITC Hotels the Greenest Luxury Hotel Chain in the World.[66][67]
 In 2010, ITC was ranked 6th amongst global consumer goods companies in sustainable value
creation during 2005-09, by Boston Consulting Group.[68]

It received the National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance from the Institute of
Company Secretaries of India in 2007.[1][69]

In 2006, ITC's e-Choupal program won the Stockholm Challenge Award 2006 in the Economic
Development category. This program enables over 3.5 million farmers to access crop-specific
and customised information in their native village habitat and language.[70][71]

In 2014, The Brand Trust Report, published by Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics
company, ranked ITC in the 9th position among India's most trusted brands in the Diversified
sector.[72]

Questionable business practices

While ITC has been noted for its sustainability practices, questions have been raised about the
ethics of giving award to a company that generates significant amount of revenue from tobacco
business.[73] The company, has been known for seeking legal intervention against guidelines
advocating prominent health advisories.[74]

See also

Tobacco industry

Tobacco smoking

Smoking in India

References

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2. ^ a b c d "History and Evolution" . ITC Limited. Retrieved 14 September 2013.

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65. ^ "TCS replaces Tata Steel as India's most admired company" . Times of India. 9 July 2013.
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72. ^ "India's Most Trusted Brands 2014" .

73. ^ http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/17/5/297.full

74. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-tobacco-idUSKCN0XJ1DU

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