ITC chairman credits resilience for navigating India's liberalised economy

ITC has emerged substantially stronger from each major challenge encountered during its operations in India's increasingly competitive marketplace, according to Sanjiv Puri, the company's Chairman and Managing Director.

In remarks during an interview at the conglomerate's Kolkata headquarters, Puri underscored how the company's ability to adapt has proven instrumental in navigating the structural changes unleashed by economic liberalisation. The opening of India's economy has fundamentally altered the business environment in which established companies like ITC operate, introducing new competitors and requiring sustained innovation.

The ITC chief's comments reflect the broader experience of Indian corporations that have had to reinvent themselves across multiple business segments to remain competitive. For ITC, which operates across cigarettes, hotels, agri-business, paperboards and other sectors, this evolution has demanded continuous strategic recalibration.

Puri's assessment suggests that rather than viewing economic liberalisation as a threat, the company has strategically positioned itself to leverage emerging opportunities. The resilience demonstrated across cyclical downturns and structural shifts has become a defining characteristic of ITC's corporate trajectory in the post-liberalisation era.