He rejected suggestions that the non-tobacco businesses of the group should be made to grow faster than the tobacco business, but rued that ITC's investment plans were getting delayed due to a long time required for getting approvals.
Addressing the shareholders of ITC at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the last time in his joint capacity as Chairman and CEO, 69-year-old Deveshwar said the strategy to pursue multiple drivers of growth has led to a 17-fold growth in the company's non-cigarette businesses since 1996, registering a net segment revenue of Rs 23,000 crore.
Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968 and assumed office as its Executive Chairman in January 1996.
During the April-June quarter, ITC's revenue from cigarettes increased 6.42 per cent to Rs 8,230.60 crore from Rs 7,733.43 crore in the year-ago period.
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"The growth of the tobacco business will be good for the shareholders of the company," he said.
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Deveshwar further said ITC has seen a 10-fold increase in revenue to over Rs 51,000 crore since 1996, while Profit Before Tax grew 33 times to over Rs 14,900 crore.
"In the last two decades, market capitalisation has grown over 50-fold to touch an all-time high of Rs 3,00,000 crore recently. Total Shareholder Returns during this period clocked a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 24 per cent," he said.
He is credited for leading ITC's transformation from a cigarette maker to a diversified group with presence ranging from FMCG, hospitality, paperboard and packaging, IT and agri businesses.
Spelling out the future plans, Deveshwar said, "Your company aspires to be the No 1 player in the new FMCG businesses and has set a revenue target of Rs 1,00,000 crore by 2030."
"What may be uppermost in your mind is the question as to how ITC will achieve this audacious goal. Undoubtedly, such an aspiration in an intensely competitive market calls for an orchestra of effort that demands significantly superior enterprise strengths.
At today's AGM, shareholders voted on a proposal to make Deveshwar non-executive director and chairman for a period of three years with effect from February 5, 2017, after he decided to hand over the baton to a "youthful leadership". While it was his last AGM as Chief Executive Officer, Deveshwar told shareholders, "I hope to continue to address you in the coming years as Chairman of your company".
ITC was in a unique position to explore new opportunities in the area of perishables including fruits and vegetables, he said in the chairman's speech at the AGM.
Also, there are plans to cultivate medicinal and aromatic plants, he said.
"The company's traditional, new and developing enterprises will help in achieving the Rs 1 lakh crore FMCG goal by 2030," he said.