NTPC, IOC try 'ITC diversification strategy' to craft plans for clean fuels

Like tobacco major, the state-owned power generator and fuel retailer are seeking to transition from toxic fossil fuel businesses to green energy but rely on those margins to grow these new ventures

What do ITC, India’s biggest tobacco company, NTPC, India’s biggest power generator, and IOC, the country’s biggest crude oil refiner, have in common? Besides the abbreviated names, all three companies sell products that are considered toxic for human health. All three are also trying to transition from these businesses. In fact, NTPC and IOC are plucking leaves out of ITC’s diversification strategy to craft plans for clean fuels.

ITC realised the societal and regulatory implications of its core cigarette business decades ago, and entered hotels, retail, and the fast-moving consumer goods sector, all of which are relatively low-margin, high-investment business