In his AGM address Sanjiv Puri, chairman and managing director, ITC, shared his vision for ‘ITC Next – Building a Competitive, Future Tech, Climate Positive and Inclusive Enterprise’. A relevant excerpt from the speech is below.
I am immensely satisfied that ITC’s Paperboards & Paper Business exemplifies triple bottom line contribution with industry-leading performance, environmental stewardship and inclusive growth models that support millions of livelihoods.
The ITC Next vision envisages a strategic focus on promising growth vectors by scaling up value-added paperboards and pioneering Next Generation sustainable packaging solutions. Investments in Industry 4.0, together with an intensified focus on technological excellence, integrated and renewable fibre value chain and import substitution, are enhancing competitiveness by setting new benchmarks in productivity, quality and strategic cost management.
ITC is developing innovative sustainable packaging solutions on the laminated board and moulded fibre platforms and has recently launched several B2B brands to provide innovative options to the food and beverages and takeaway segments, amongst others. Given the heightened consumer and regulatory pressures to substitute single-use plastics, this area offers immense potential, and the company is committed to making a growing contribution to this sector.
ITC’s investment to support sustainability
As valued shareholders, you will be delighted that ITC’s Paperboards Business contributes to several national priority areas. Enabling large-scale climate action, import substitution and livelihood support, the company has anchored an extensive afforestation program. Cumulatively, the program has covered 9.5 lakh acres, supporting over 170 million person days of employment. It was the first in India to receive the Forest Stewardship Council-Forest Management (FSC-FM) certification and is today the leading provider of FSC-certified paper and paperboards in the country.
It has also invested in India’s first and only Bleached Chemical Thermo Mechanical Pulp Mill to substitute imported softwood pulp through innovative technologies and support additional livelihoods along the pulp value chain. Scaling new heights in environmental leadership, investments were recently made in a state-of-the-art high-pressure recovery boiler at Bhadrachalam, which will significantly reduce emissions and costs whilst enhancing pulp productivity.
This year, a stellar performance with 36% growth in segment revenue and nearly 55% in segment results. The strategic thrust on product mix enrichment, structural cost management, sustainable packaging and Industry 4.0 will continue to drive competitively superior performance in the years ahead.
