ITC Limited

ITC Limited is an Indian Multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata. ITC has a diversified presence across industries such as FMCG, hotels, software, packaging, paperboards, specialty papers and agribusiness. The company has 13 businesses in 5 segments. It exports its products in 90 countries. Its products are available in 6 million retail outlets.
On 17 April 2023, its market cap crossed the milestone of for the first time in company's history, followed by crossing the mark on 20 July 2023 and becoming the biggest FMCG Company in India passing the Hindustan Unilever's market cap the very next day. It employs 36,500 people at more than 60 locations across India.
History
Tobacco business and early years
"ITC Limited" was originally named "Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited", succeeding Imperial Brands and W.D. & H.O. Wills on 24 August 1910 as a British-owned company registered in Kolkata. Since the company was primarily based on agricultural resources, it ventured into partnerships in 1911 with farmers from the southern part of India to source leaf tobacco. Under the company's umbrella, the "Indian Leaf Tobacco Development Company Limited" was formed in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh in 1912. The first cigarette factory of the company was set up in 1913 in Bangalore.
In 1928, construction began for the company's headquarters, the 'Virginia House' at Calcutta. ITC acquired Carreras Tobacco Company's factory at Kidderpore in 1935 to further strengthen its presence. ITC helped set up an indigenous cigarette tissue-paper-making plant in 1946 to reduce import costs significantly. Then, a factory for printing and packaging was set up in Madras in 1949. The company acquired the manufacturing business of Tobacco Manufacturers (India) Limited and the complementary lithographic printing business of Printers (India) Limited in 1953.
Name
Established in 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, the company was renamed as the India Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and later to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. The company now stands renamed ITC Limited, where "ITC" today is no longer an acronym.
Shareholding and listings
ITC's equity shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE). The company's Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. ITC is a constituent of two major stock market indices of India: BSE SENSEX and NIFTY 50 of NSE.
In July 2023, ITC Ltd.'s board of directors approved in principle the demerger of its hotel business and the formation of a wholly owned subsidiary called ITC Hotels.
Employees
As per the Annual report of the company, it had 28000+ employees as on 31 March 2020. It spent 2,145 crores on Employee benefits during the FY 2012–13. During the same year, its attrition rate was 12%.
ITC's Chairman Yogesh Chandra Deveshwar (d. 2019) won renowned awards and recognition including Padma Bhushan from Govt. of India 2005–09, by Boston Consulting Group and seventh-best-performing CEO in the world by Harvard Business Review.
Meera Shankar, Indian ambassador to the USA between 2009 and 2011, joined the board of ITC Limited in 2012 as the first woman director in its history. She is an additional non-executive director of the company.
See also
Smoking in India
Godfrey Phillips India, the second largest tobacco company
Smoking in Bollywood
References
Further reading
Cox, Howard. "International business, the state and industrialisation in India: Early growth in the Indian cigarette industry, 1900-19." Indian Economic & Social History Review 27.3 (1990): 289-312.
Roy, Anoushka. "ITC Vs Godfrey Phillips India – A Comparison of the Two Tobacco Giants" Trade Brains (March 9, 2022) online
External links
Official website
BSE SENSEX
NIFTY 50
Tobacco companies of India
Companies based in Kolkata
Conglomerate companies established in 1910
Indian companies established in 1910
Food and drink companies of India
ITC Limited
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange