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ITC Targets Rs 1 Lakh Crore Revenue From FMCG Business By 2030: Sanjiv Puri

The FMCG business is expected to be the biggest value creator for ITC.

Sanjiv Puri, chief operating officer of ITC (Source: BloombergQuint)
Sanjiv Puri, chief operating officer of ITC (Source: BloombergQuint)

ITC Ltd. is looking to ramp up revenue from branded packaged foods and personal care products to Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030.

The consumer goods business presents the “maximum potential for value creation”, the company’s Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Puri told BloombergQuint in an interview. The Kolkata-based company aims to strengthen its footprints in the FMCG sector by bringing in innovative, differentiated and first time products to the market, Puri added.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

What is the strategy for ITC going ahead?

We believe that within ITC, maximum value creation can come from our investments in the FMCG segment. That is where we have strong enterprise strengths we can leverage. Going forward, we will not only be strengthening our foothold in existing categories, but we will also over time get into newer categories.
Recently we have got into juices, dairy whitener and ghee. We’ve also launched Fabelle chocolates, the luxury chocolates. We’ve also gone in luxury coffee with Sunbean coffee. Overtime you will see us in existing categories and also extending our hold in existing categories.

We can expect some more stress in the tobacco sector as the Goods and Services Tax gets rolled out. How do you see this panning out? Would you like to rework your strategy over there?

As far as the tobacco sector is concerned. I think over the last few years there has been a sharp increase in taxation. Which has unfortunately led to a spurt in smuggling and there is a lot of growth of the illegal segment. So taxation has created a huge arbitrage opportunity. Today one in five cigarettes in the country are smuggled and it has also led to a shift of consumption from legal cigarettes to illegal and other forms of consumption.

What will be your strategy when dealing with emerging and strong domestic players like Patanjali?

Competition is always good for the industry and consumer. We are happy to see people developing Indian brands. Because we are likewise also trying to develop global Indian brands.

Is there are revenue and valuation target for the company by 2030 and what will be the strategy to achieve that target?

ITC has already articulated it’s aspiration to get to Rs 1,00,000 crore in FMCG by 2030. We are looking to bring to the market innovative, differentiated and first time to the market products. We are also going to have significant investments in the health and wellness space. Recently we have launched a sugar controlled release atta, which is good for pre-diabetic and diabetic patients. We have also launched an ‘All Good Digestive Biscuit’, which is the first digestive which has zero percent maida and sugar and no artificial sweetener.