Chairman (Board of Governors)
Sanjiv Puri is Chairman & MD of ITC Ltd, one of India’s leading conglomerates with businesses spanning FMCG, Hotels, Paperboards and Packaging, Agri Business and Information Technology. He is also Chairman of ITC Infotech India Ltd, its subsidiaries in the UK and USA and Chairman of Surya Nepal Private Limited. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and the Wharton School of Business.
Spearheading the ‘ITC Next’ vision, Puri has driven an extensive strategy reset to architect the next horizon of competitiveness, growth and profitability to build a future-tech, climate positive, innovative and inclusive enterprise. Puri’s emphasis on purposeful and cutting-edge innovation has led to the creation of sharp focused R&D platforms that are continuously developing several differentiated as well as first-to-market products, addressing dynamic and evolving consumer preferences. Given his deep conviction that mega trends like Digital and Sustainability will reshape the future, Puri has passionately rallied the organisation to develop capabilities, channelise investment and resources to enhance competitiveness of existing businesses and also identify tech-enabled growth opportunities. Lending new wings to ITC’s credo of ‘Nation First: Sab Saath Badhein’, he has articulated an ambitious Sustainability 2.0 vision that will enlarge ITC’s contribution to a net-zero economy and meaningfully support national priorities.
Puri has served as the Chairman of the Expert Group constituted by the Fifteenth Finance Commission of the Government of India to promote agri-exports, and was a Member of the technology discussion group ‘Farm to Table - driving India’s agriculture sector digitally’ constituted by the NITI Aayog. He was also the Chairman of the ‘Action Council on ESG in Business’ under the aegis of Business 20 India, the official dialogue forum with the global business community as part of India’s G20 Presidency.
Presently, Puri serves as the President-Designate of CII. He is the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, Chair of the CII Associations Council as well as the Membership Council and a Member of the CII Economic Affairs Council. He is a Director on the Board of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Co-Chair of the ‘Business Commission to Tackle Inequality’ set up by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Member of the BRICS Business Council and also a Member of the Governing Body of the National Council of Applied Economic Research. Puri is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Gandhinagar and is also on the Governing Board and the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
Puri was conferred the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award of the year 2018’ by IIT Kanpur. He was bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate by the XIM University, Bhubaneshwar and honoured with the ‘IMPACT Person of the Year, 2020’ Award by exchange4media.
