ITC Group names Sanjiv Puri as new leader after Deveshwar's death

ITC Group announced on Monday managing director Sanjiv Puri will be the company's new chairman and managing director.

Puri, 56, was promoted after the death of Y C Deveshwar, ITC's legendary leader, on Saturday. 

"It is a responsibility that I accept with humility and with a deep resolve to build on the outstanding legacy nurtured over the years, further strengthen and build market leadership across all business segments whilst reinforcing ITC's commitment to put Nation First always," said Puri according to news agency PTI.

Puri, an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and Wharton School of Business, has spent his career with ITC, reported the Economic Times on Monday. He joined the company in 1986 and rose through the ranks like Deveshwar, his mentor.

Puri, in 2014, was made president of the FMCG businesses, a new position that was created to take overall charge of the entire segment comprising cigarettes, packaged food, personal care, education and stationery products, safety matches and agarbattis, reported Economic Times.

"The Board of Directors of the company at the meeting held today appointed Sanjiv Puri, Managing Director, also as the Chairman of the Company with effect from May 13, 2019. Consequently, Puri's new designation is Chairman and Managing Director of the company," ITC said in a regulatory filing.

In 2017, ITC had split the role of the Executive Chairman between Chairman and Chief Executive Officer as part of succession planning in the company.

Deveshwar, 72, had stepped down from executive role in 2017 but remained as a chairman in non-executive capacity.