Sanjiv Puri appointed COO of ITC

FMCG major ITC has announced the appointment of Sanjiv Puri as its Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect.
Puri is seen as the successor of chairman YC Deveshwar, who is to step down early next year after a more than two-decade stint as chairman. Deveshwar, who will continue as non-executive chairman for at least three years after that, has already set a high target for his successors – Rs.1 trillion revenue from consumer goods segment (other than cigarettes) by 2030.
On December 6, ITC had elevated Sanjiv Puri as Director of its FMCG business replacing P Dhobale. Before that, Puri was the president of ITC’s packaged goods business that accounts for about 80 per cent of ITC’s business.
Puri, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, joined ITC in 1986. Puri has worked with ITC in several roles. Puri’s first major break was in 2001 when he was appointed the managing director Surya Nepal, a subsidiary of ITC that became one of the largest private companies in Nepal. Puri also played a key role in ITC’s entry into the apparel business.
In 2006, Puri became the managing director of ITC Infotech and led the business till August 2009. Then, he became the divisional chief executive of ITC’s tobacco business, with additional responsibilities of trade marketing and distribution of the country’s largest cigarette maker.
Prior to his appointment as director, Puri was President FMCG Businesses from December 2014, which takes care of segments as cigarettes, foods, personal care, education & stationery products, matches and agarbattis.
After Puri took charge of the packaged goods business, ITC entered into the juice segment with the acquisition of the BNatural brand. The company also acquired the hygiene brands Savlon and Shower to Shower from Johnson & Johnson.