ITC AGM: MD Sanjiv Puri highlights future plans, export potential and growth areas

Puri said the opportunities arising out of India’s growth story have also encouraged the company to invest in five new manufacturing facilities that will be commissioned in the near term in areas such as agri & food processing, as well as packaging, among others.

ITC said its newer FMCG businesses have garnered an annual consumer spend of Rs 24,000 crores. The carefully selected portfolio, with substantial headroom to grow, is estimated to have a total addressable market potential of Rs 5,00,000 crores by 2030, which is amongst the highest in the Indian FMCG space.

The company’s products are available in nearly 70 lakh outlets through our vibrant omnichannel network.

During the year, a new Integrated Consumer Goods Manufacturing and Logistics (ICML) facilities was commissioned at Medak, Telangana, taking the total to 10 such modern facilities. In addition, three co-located automated logistics centres have been established which together with next-generation agile supply chains will enable superior and efficient fulfilment.

In recent years, we have established distribution arrangements abroad enabling appreciable progress of exports of ITC’s ‘Proudly Indian’ brands to over 60 countries.

Over time, such exports will make a substantial contribution to the growth of its value-added FMCG portfolio.

In addition, three co-located automated logistics centres have been established which together with next-generation agile supply chains will enable superior and efficient fulfilment.

Puri said ITC's interventions in the newer FMCG Businesses have enabled robust growth of 25 percent in Revenue during the last two years of the pandemic, reaching nearly Rs 16,000 crores in FY22.

The traditional business segment of Cigarettes also recovered during the year with normalisation of economic activity and is now ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

The legal cigarette industry has been severely impacted by smuggled and tax-avoided products over the years and a relatively stable tax regime is expected to enable the industry to claw back volumes over time. ITC will continue to fortify the product portfolio with focus on innovation, premiumisation and superior on-ground execution to counter the menace of illegal cigarettes and reinforce market standing,

Agri-Business sources over 40 lakh tonnes of agri-commodities from 22 States & 20 agri-value chains and is a leading exporter to over 95 countries across the globe. Over time it plans to engage and empower over 4,000 FPOs, thereby benefitting more than 1 crore farmers.

A stellar performance was achieved this year with 36 percent growth in Segment Revenue and nearly 55 percent in segment results. The strategic thrust on product mix enrichment, structural cost management, sustainable packaging and Industry 4.0 will continue to drive competitively superior performance in the years ahead.

Next vision envisages a strategic focus on promising vectors of growth by scaling up value-added paperboards and pioneering Next Generation sustainable packaging solutions.

Investments in Industry 4.0, together with an intensified focus on technological excellence, integrated & renewable fibre value chain, and import substitution are enhancing competitiveness by setting new benchmarks in productivity, quality and strategic cost management.

ITC is developing innovative sustainable packaging solutions on the laminated board and moulded fibre platforms and has recently launched several B2B brands to provide innovative options to the food & beverages and takeaway segments, amongst others.

Given the heightened consumer and regulatory pressures to substitute single-use plastics, this area offers immense potential and ITC is committed to make a growing contribution to this sector, Puri said.

Enabling large-scale climate action, import substitution and livelihood support, ITC has anchored an extensive afforestation programme. Cumulatively, the programme has covered 9.5 lakh acres, supporting over 170 million person days of employment.

ITC Hotels and Welcomhotels achieved, much ahead of time, the 2030 carbon emission targets envisaged in the COP21 Paris agreement. In addition, ITC Grand Chola at Chennai, ITC Gardenia and ITC Windsor at Bengaluru became the first 3 hotels in the world to receive the LEED Zero Carbon certification.

The resurgent trend in domestic tourism, MICE and banqueting highlight the immense opportunities for trusted brands like ITC Hotels in a post-pandemic era.

Puri said ITC's implementation of the ‘asset-right’ strategy, together with strategic interventions in recent years, investments in digital technologies and pursuit of alternate structures in line with industry recovery dynamics, position it well to scale the next horizon of growth.

Building on its substantive expertise in Product Lifecycle Management services, ITC Infotech has recently acquired a substantial portion of PTC Inc’s PLM professional services business. 

This makes it one of the largest organisations in this segment and reinforces its position as a leader in Digital Manufacturing whilst enlarging its global presence, Puri said.

Targeted investments in chosen domains, technologies and focus on customer and employee centricity, position it well as a future-ready global business with immense promise to be a significant value creator.

ITC is now carbon positive for 17 years, water positive for 20 years and solid waste recycling positive for 15 years. The company sustained its ‘AA’ rating by MSCI-ESG for the 4th successive year.

In addition, CDP has rated ITC at the 'Leadership Level' score for both Climate Change and Water Security.

"ITC continues to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index. This year, continuing our stewardship in promoting a circular economy, an important milestone was achieved with the Company exceeding its commitment on plastic neutrality, collecting and managing more than 54,000 tonnes of plastic waste across 35 States and Union Territories. I will discuss some of the far-reaching initiatives in a subsequent section," Puri said.

ITC said it is looking to build a Future Tech enterprise with investments in purposeful consumer-centric innovation, technology, a digitally-enriched smart ecosystem and sustainability.

‘ITC e-Store’ is now operational in 15 cities, with 45+ categories and 700 products. Overall sales through e-Commerce channels grew by 3 times over FY 20, it said.

ITC said around 42 percent of ITC’s total energy requirements is met from renewable sources despite a growing footprint of operations. Recent investments in the high pressure recovery boiler and in solar farms will also contribute to ITC’s Sustainability 2.0 goals of achieving 50 percent of total energy consumption and 100 percent of electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2030.