| ITC Ltd will invest Rs 14,000 crore to expand existing businesses, acquire suitable ventures and modernise plants in the next five years in keeping with the Vision 2010 policy chalked out by the company ahead of its centenary in that year. |
| The investment figure was announced after the ITC board met in Kolkata to approve its business plan for next five years ending 2009-10. |
| The board cleared an aggressive investment plan totaling Rs 14,000 crore across all its businesses "" FMCG, hotels, paperboards, paper and packaging and farm-business "" the company said in a release. |
| ITC Chairman YC Deveshwar said, "Quite apart from the positive growth signals in the economy, the board's decision was driven by the aspiration to contribute significantly to the national effort of investment-led job creation." |
| In December 2004, top ITC managers met at a vision workshop in Mumbai where a task force from each business group submitted a draft Vision 2010 document, which was deliberated upon by the management team. |
| ITC said in the context of the improving macroeconomic fundamentals, the board envisaged significant growth prospects for all businesses of the company, both in the growing domestic market as well as exports. |
| The investment plans aimed at positioning each of the businesses in the ITC portfolio as a leader in its respective market, the company added. |
| At the Mumbai workshop, Harvard Business School professor Krishna Palepu had advised the ITC management to create a blueprint that would enable the company to anticipate and productively leverage emerging business opportunities. |
| Apart from capital expenditure for organic growth, the strategic investment plans include outlays towards acquisitions, both in India and abroad. The company refused to share further details on its acquisition plans. |
| The bulk of the investments will go towards upgrading technology in the tobacco business, creating new production facilities for the food and garments businesses, expanding the ITC Welcomgroup chain through the addition of hotels in key locations and consolidation of the company's leadership position in the paperboards and paper businesses with the addition of an integrated pulp and paper facility. |
| Investments are also planned for expansion of ITC's pioneering e-choupal rural sourcing and distribution network and setting up the rural hyper-market chain under the 'Choupal Sagar' store brand from one to four within this period. |
| At present, the company was expanding its e-choupal network at the rate of six choupals a day and was selling both information and products through the network. |
| Deadline: 2010 |
| To grow... |
| |
| ... and to acquire |
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