YC Deveshwar, the man who transformed ITC into a multi-enterprise conglomerate, passes away

Yogesh Chander Deveshwar, who has died aged seventy-two, was an unprecedented example of an employee joining immediately out of college and moving through the ranks to turn out to be not just the youngest chairman of a frontline conglomerate in India Inc, but also the longest serving one for 23 years. So much so, Deveshwar and ITCNSE 2.09 % Ltd had ended up synonymous with every different until he breathed his last on Saturday morning.
YCD, as he was popularly referred to in corporate circles, had joined the board of ITC Ltd in 1984 in just sixteen years after he joined the organization from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He became ultimately appointed the chief government and chairman in 1996.
Along the way, Deveshwar becomes instrumental in remodeling the Kolkata-based totally agency from being primarily a cigarette maker to a conglomerate with hobbies in sectors inclusive of speedy-moving customer goods, resorts, paper and packaging, and agri-business. As of March 2018, ITC’s gross sales fee extended to Rs 67,081 crore. It published a net profit of Rs eleven,223 crores. ITC will declare its FY19 monetary result on Monday.
Prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Shri YC Deveshwar made a strong contribution to Indian industry. His efforts helped ITC grow to be a professionally-run Indian organization with a worldwide footprint. Saddened by his death. My mind is together with his family, buddies and the ITC group on this hour of grief.”
ITC was engaged in non-tobacco organizations even before Deveshwar took a fee, given the disfavor with which cigarettes are regarded through political institutions, fitness activists and most people.
But the strong impetus that this a part of the business got beneath Deveshwar has made ITC synonymous also with luxury inns, agri-commercial enterprise, paper and paperboards, branded clothing and way of life retail, agarbattis, packaged ingredients, and personal care. It is now a multi-product, extremely numerous conglomerate, and tobacco is just a part of it.
Deveshwar changed into most of the first CEOs to faucet India’s enormous geographical region, by way of his unique e-Choupal idea — linking at once with farmers through the Internet for procurement of products — and by entering the FMCG area in rural areas. The going has been tough and the outcomes combined, even though the business enterprise takes a protracted-time period view on this.
In truth, handling difficult situations has been part of Deveshwar’s mental makeup, which includes when he took a wreck from ITC to run Air India in 1991-94 after which on his go back to ITC, whilst he has become vice-chairman before taking the pinnacle job two years later. These were turbulent instances on the organization with the largest shareholder, British American Tobacco, at loggerheads with the management led with the aid of Deveshwar’s predecessor KL Chugh. The company additionally needed to address allegations that it violated the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.
Deveshwar becomes in a position to pull round. Having been something of a wunderkind — he changed into spotted early by ITC’s mythical chairman AN Haksar and became a board member at 37 — Deveshwar also won valuable revel in of the way the government works for the duration of his stint at Air India.
With sick fitness and to bypass-at the baton to younger executives whom he can groom and mentor to take full rate of a complex multi-faceted employer, Deveshwar retired from the government position of CEO at ITC in February 2017 and was appointed by using the board as non-govt chairman until 2022. ITC in 2017 appointed Sanjiv Puri on the helm for daily affairs and who continues to be the dealing with the director.
Though Deveshwar shifted to New Delhi for over 12 months for his treatment, he persevered to preserve a close watch on ITC and its whole senior control could behavior meetings at Delhi. In truth, the previous couple of board meetings of ITC to have been held in Delhi.
In his condolence message, Puri stated Deveshwar had passionately championed the reason for sustainable and inclusive growth and the transformative position groups ought to play in growing large societal price.
“Inspired with the aid of patriotic fervor, appear in his clarion name of ‘Lets Put India First’, he led ITC’s strategic thrust to create an exemplary Indian enterprise committed to serving countrywide priorities,” stated Puri.
Puri said Deveshwar’s management converted ITC into a treasured and favorite multi commercial enterprise conglomerate with a strong portfolio of the front-ranking businesses in FMCG, accommodations, paperboards, and paper, packaging, and agri-commercial enterprise. “His Vision to make societal cost introduction a bedrock of company method also led ITC to grow to be an international exemplar in sustainability and the best business enterprise within the global to be carbon advantageous, water effective and strong waste effective for over a decade,” stated Puri.
While ITC has retained its lead inside the tobacco enterprise accounting for two out of three felony cigarettes bought in the USA, the agency has a wide spectrum of bestsellers in non-tobacco segments as properly. It has created extra than 50 famous manufacturers, such as Aashirvaad and Sunfeast to Classmate and Bingo! In FY18, the non-cigarette FMCG enterprise sales were Rs eleven,328 crores, at the same time as a gross profit of the business became Rs 164 crore.