Business
Sanjiv Puri’s ‘ITC Next’ strategy to drive into commanding position in FMCG industry market

Powered by mega brands such as Aashirvaad, Sunfeast, Bingo!, Classmate, and Savlon, ITC is set to drive into a commanding position in what some analysts have estimated to be a Rs 5 lakh crore addressable FMCG industry market segment by 2035, with Chairman Sanjiv Puri putting in motion a carefully crafted ‘ITC Next’ strategy.
This re-crafted strategy, built around portfolio revitalisation, rapid platform-based innovation, aggressive digitisation, deeper synergies with other group businesses, structural leverages and a sharper focus on margins.
As an FMCG major, ITC is the only company that is dominant across a range of product categories from branded atta to biscuits; snacks to spices; noodles to dairy; chocolates to coffee; juices to frozen snacks and vegetables; deodorants to hand and body wash; sanitizers and masks to floor cleaners; and from notebooks to agarbatti, that none of the other Indian or multinational brands can claim to be present in.
Puri’s ‘ITC Next’ strategy pivots around a multi-pronged approach to revitalize the company’s current FMCG portfolio by fortifying and scaling up its proven megabrands, leveraging adjacencies through horizontal brand extensions, and nurturing new platforms with innovative products that will scale up to be leaders in their respective categories.
Mega brands and adjacencies
ITC has a plethora of megabrands such as Aashirvaad, Sunfeast, Bingo! and Classmate that already command leadership positions in the market.
The strategy of creating value added adjacencies could be best illustrated by the new Aashirvaad portfolio including Aashirvaad Nature’s Super Foods range comprising ragi flour, multi-millet mix, gluten free flour, organic atta and pulses as well as chapatis, instant meals and the Aashirvaad Svasti dairy range.
ITC is also fostering new platforms and strengthening its new brands including Fabelle chocolates, Sunbean coffee, B Natural juices, Nimyle home cleaners, Savlon hygiene products and so on. The overarching strategy for new platforms of innovative products is to first validate the concept and business model in select beachheads. Having gained a dominant market penetration, these new lines of products and brands will gain strength to occupy adjacent markets with different opportunities, building a larger brand with each new product, creating new and steady vectors of growth for the future.
ITC under Puri is unwavering in its resolve to build a formidable FMCG business. With innovation as the new lifeblood, the company today is one of the largest incubators of world-class Indian brands.
The Company’s wide range of FMCG portfolio has demonstrable headroom to expand rapidly in the FMCG industry overall addressable market segment of Rs 5 lakh crore.
For instance, the total size of the packaged snacksmarket for the overall industry is set to vault 4.5 times from about Rs 32,000 crore to an estimated Rs 1.43 lakh crore by 2035. The market for overall spices industry is projected to grow from about Rs 22,000 crore currently to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in 15 years, a growth of five times. Similar industry growths are expected in other categories such as biscuits, branded atta, noodles, deodorants, personal care products and the cleaners categories.
Most of ITC’s FMCG products occupy the first or the second positions in their respective categories giving them unique opportunity to corner most of these segment growths.
Aashirvaad, India’s number one branded packaged atta, itself has a consumer spend of over Rs 6,000 crore.
Digital, consumer-centric and future-ready
Puri’s strategy to make ITC future-ready manifests in his focus on driving the three megatrends emerging out of the pandemic – innovation, digitalisation and sustainability. The Company’s R& D Centre, the ITC Life Sciences and Technology Centre (LSTC) in Bengaluru helped ITC to launch 120 differentiated products amid the pandemic to meet emerging preferences. To further support this goal, the company has set up 9 state-of-the-art integrated consumer goods manufacturing facilities (ICML) to create structural advantages.
Digitalisation is being accelerated pan-ITC through the use of new technologies such as Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), etc. These technologies are also being deployed across the entire supply chain spanning sourcing, manufacturing, trade engagements and e-commerce, including its own ordering platform the ITC e-store. The FMCG business has further driven enhanced competitiveness through a multi-channel distribution strategy which have been strengthened by-customised apps.
Power of Synergies
The ‘ITC Next’ FMCG strategy has also been bolstered by synergies flowing in from the company’s other businesses.
A good example of synergies is ITC’s foods business deriving a significant competitive advantage from agribusiness’s sourcing capabilities. The culinary expertise of ITC’s Hotels business has also enabled ITC to craft differentiated food offerings.
Stronger growth, better margins
The robustness of Puri’s strategy for FMCG is evident from the segment EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) increasing by by 82 per cent this Q2 from Q2 FY 20, as outlined in ITC’s second quarter financial results.
The FMCG businesses have been posting steady growth ahead of industry peers. During the last four years, ITC’s revenue from FMCG increased from around Rs 10,500 crore to nearly Rs 15,000 crore.
ITC’s FMCG business during 2020-21 grew 16 per cent versus the industry average of 8.5 per cent.
There has also been a steady improvement in profitability in the FMCG segment, with EBITDA margins having improved by more than 640 basis points between 2016-17 and 2020-21.
‘ITC Next’ strategy for other businesses
In August, at the company’s annual general meeting, Puri unveiled the extensive ‘ITC Next’ strategy to architect the structural drivers that will power ITC’s next horizon of growth and ensure that the enterprise remains future-oriented, consumer-centric and nimble.
ITC’s other businesses too have pivoted to create new frontiers for the future, with enhanced competitiveness as well as sharper focus on cost management to strengthen leadership or rapidly attain the top positions in the case of newer segments.
Some of the key drivers of growth, as identified by Puri, for ITC’s other businesses include an asset right strategy for Hotels powered by a repositioned WelcomHotel brand as well as newly launched brands such as The Storii and Mementos done with management contracts. Two management contracts have already been signed under the Mementos brand.
Similarly, in the Paperboards business, the company is concentrating on sustainable packaging and value-added paper, while in agriusiness, the emphasis is on Next Generation agriculture driven by the ‘super app’ ITC MAARS and value-added agriculture.
Special strategic thrust is also being provided to ITC Infotech, the wholly owned subsidiary which is on a strong growth and profitability trajectory over the last few years.
International
Israeli soldier killed in Gaza

Jerusalem, June 30: An Israeli soldier was killed in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said.
In a statement, the military said Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, 20, of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion of the 401st Brigade, “fell during combat,” Xinhua news agency reported.
Israel’s state-owned Kan TV reported that Rosenfeld was killed by an explosive device in Jabalia, in an area where the military had begun demolishing buildings in preparation for constructing outposts as part of a planned buffer zone in northern Gaza.
Since the beginning of June, 21 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip, bringing the military’s death toll to 880 since October 2023, according to official figures.
Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian sources reported heavy bombardments in northern Gaza, with at least 88 people killed and 365 wounded in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza health authorities.
The strikes came as the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings, calling on residents of Gaza City and Jabalia to move immediately toward the al-Mawasi area.
Meanwhile, Gaza health authorities said on Sunday that the Palestinian death toll from Israeli military operations since October 2023 had risen to at least 56,500.
National
Amarnath Yatra starting from July 3, police on every corner, security arrangements tested through mock drill

Srinagar: With only three days left for the start of the Amarnath Yatra, the final phase of security preparations has been completed. Thousands of security personnel have been deployed and in the last few days, mock drills have been conducted at several places to identify the loopholes in the arrangements. According to officials, this time the security arrangements are more comprehensive, technical and coordinated than ever before. More than 10 Superintendents of Police (SP), 15 Deputy Superintendents (DySP) and hundreds of paramilitary forces and policemen have been deployed on the Yatra route to ensure smooth and safe pilgrimage.
Anti-terrorism drive intensifies
The Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and CRPF have jointly launched aggressive counter-terrorism operations in Anantnag district. According to senior officers, more than 20 search operations are being conducted daily along the Yatra route and the surrounding forests. A senior officer said, “We cannot take any risk. Human and technical surveillance is going on along every inch of the route. All potential threats have already been neutralised.”
Monitoring by Home Ministry, deployment of central forces
The Union Home Ministry is keeping a close watch on the preparations for the Yatra. Central forces like BSF, ITBP and SSB have been deployed in sensitive areas, especially in high altitudes and forest areas. Officials said that this year unprecedented coordination is being seen between security and civil agencies. Travelers have been requested to pre-register, carry valid identity cards and follow the specified guidelines.
Yatra will start from July 3, unprecedented security cover
The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave temple, located at an altitude of 3,880 meters, will begin from July 3. Tight security arrangements have been implemented on both the routes – Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal. The Pahalgam route has been divided into 17 zones and 51 sub-zones and special officers, quick reaction teams (QRT), mountain rescue teams, anti-sabotage teams and traffic controllers have been deployed in each zone. The preparations have been checked through mock drills.
Emergency services, disaster management, medical teams and traffic police participated in the mock drill conducted recently. Scenarios like natural disaster, terrorist attack and health crisis were practiced in the drill, so that coordination and quick response capability could be tested among all the agencies. Along with this, there was an amazing integration of technology and logistics.
The administration has streamlined water, electricity, medical and sanitation facilities at all halts. Base camps and langars have been made ready for use after hygiene inspection. For the first time this year, technologies like high-definition CCTV, drone surveillance, satellite tracking, and AI-based facial recognition system have been incorporated in the security system. Special monitoring centres have also been set up.
National
BJP wants to grab land in every UP district, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow, June 28: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that it was trying to usurp land in every district of the state.
Addressing a press conference, Yadav said the BJP was misusing bulldozers and government machinery, with the active support of party workers and the local administration, to forcibly acquire land.
He particularly pointed to Gorakhpur, the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, claiming irregularities in land registration there.
“The people of Gorakhpur should ask in whose name the maximum number of registries have been done,” Yadav said.
“If the truth about Gorakhpur comes out, the government will have to build a custody corridor there instead of passing on any inheritance. Compensation for land and houses is not being given fairly. The administration is pressuring locals into signing consent papers, using the police to instill fear, just so they don’t have to pay proper compensation,” Akhilesh Yadav alleged.
Accusing the government of cheating locals, he added, “People lost land in Ayodhya, came close to losing it in Banaras, and now Gorakhpur is next. It’s not just Gorakhpur’s land that’s being targeted — this mindset was also visible in Lucknow. Even their own advisor had to resign. I don’t know who he was colluding with — those he aligned with have now fled the country.”
Yadav also took aim at the RSS, criticising its demand to remove the words ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ from the Preamble of the Constitution.
“Those who oppose the reservation don’t say it openly. Instead, they target the concepts of secularism and socialism. Their opposition to reservation is masked in these attacks,” he said.
Yadav accused the BJP and its ideological allies of trying to polarise voters. “They want to get votes by spreading hatred,” he alleged.
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