ITC appoints Sanjiv Puri as new COO

The board of ITC Ltd. has re-designated Executive Director Sanjiv Puri as the Chief Operating Officer of the company with immediate effect. The 53-year old Mr. Puri was brought on ITC’s Board in December 2015 in a move that was seen as part of Chairman Y. C. Deveshwar’s succession- planning. Mr. Deveshwar is stepping down as Executive Chairman of ITC in February next year, after an over two-decade stint as

Chairman. He will continue as Non-Executive Chairman for at least three years thereafter. However, although last week’s AGM was Mr. Deveshwar’s last as Executive Chairman, he did not make a mention about top-level appointments at the time. The company announced Mr. Puri’s appointment in a stock exchange filing on Monday. An IIT Kanpur alumnus, Mr. Puri joined ITC in 1986 quitting the erstwhile Telco where he was a trainee.

Led FMCG

Prior to his appointment as Director, he was President of the FMCG businesses since December 2014. In addition, he has been closely involved with the tobacco division, ITC Infotech, and ITA Surya Nepal with which he was associated for five years. Company sources said that Mr. Puri became Divisional Chief Executive of the Tobacco Division in 2009, handling additionally the charge of ITC’s Trade Marketing and Distribution function. He led ITC Infotech India Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary, as its Managing Director between May 2006 and August 2009. He was responsible for diversifying ITC’s operations into apparel retail and exports. Mr. Puri is poised to take charge at a time when there is increased regulatory pressure on cigarettes. FMCG sales have recovered during the first quarter although hotel and paper business have disappointed. Analyst firms declined comment on this announcement at this juncture even as ITC shares gained 0.7 per cent on the BSE to close at Rs.251.30 and rose 0.8 per cent on the NSE to close at Rs.252.