ITC Research and Development

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ITC Research and Development

ITC Research and Development

Driving Science-Led Product Innovation

ITC's state-of-the-art ITC Life Sciences and Technology Centre (LSTC) in Bengaluru is at the core of driving science-led product innovation to support and build ITC's portfolio of world-class products and brands. The LSTC team, comprising over 350 highly qualified scientists, has a mandate to work on future-ready science platforms, design differentiated products to address unique needs and deliver superior benefits to Indian consumers.

ITC LSTC has evolved over the years and is presently equipped with world-class scientific infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities to create knowledge and build intellectual property through experimental research, rapid prototyping and process development. Over 800 patents have been filed in a relatively short period of time, bearing testimony to LSTC's vitality and capabilities.

Centres of Excellence

Centres of Excellence in Biosciences, Agri-sciences and Materials, and robust research platforms for Beauty & Hygiene, Heath & Wellness, Agro-forestry & Crop Sciences and Sustainable Packaging Materials continue to drive world-class innovation. Rigorous systems, processes and industry best practices have enabled securing global quality certifications - a key enabler in delivering products with the highest standards in quality, safety and efficacy to the Indian consumers.

In line with ITC's relentless focus on operational excellence and quality, each Business is mandated to continuously innovate on materials, training, processes and systems to enhance their quality competitiveness. Innovations are integral to the Business strategies and LSTC actively collaborates with the Businesses in this regard, making ITC a forerunner in introducing first-to-market innovative products for Indian consumers.

Securing Long-term Capabilities

LSTC is at the forefront of executing robust R&D strategies and plans that embed sustainability and digital transformation, in order to secure long-term competitiveness for each of ITC's businesses. LSTC harnesses contemporary advances in relevant core areas of science and technology to continuously translate 'proofs of concept' to novel product opportunities. R&D teams seamlessly integrate classical concepts of product development to explore and leverage cross-business synergies.

LSTC has created long-term research platforms to incubate multi-generation product concepts. New synergistic value chains in health, nutrition and sensory sciences have been created to propel future growth and develop differentiated, first-to-market products without compromising on sensory and other attributes. Advances in materials chemistry, agronomy and process science have led to the replacement of imported bamboo for manufacture of agarbatti sticks.

In the Agri-sciences domain, LSTC has an ambitious R&D programme to address future demand of food security, improving yields & quality and developing new varieties. Research on wheat and potato varietal securitisation are at advanced stages to achieve flexibility in sourcing of raw material, creation of region-specific blends and to ensure robust agro-climatic adaptability. LSTC, in collaboration with the Agri Business Division endeavours to ensure contemporary science outcomes are fully integrated across the value chain from farm to factory.

Scientific platforms in Agroforestry have led to pioneering work on new clones in tandem with ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division to enhance wood productivity and pulp quality, for sustainable raw materials as well as farmer profitability. ITC's unique competencies in Materials and Packaging have delivered innovative recyclable flexible packaging and bio-compostable coating solutions in line with the environmental sustainability agenda.

In its quest to be an innovation engine and to be future-ready, LSTC is developing and deploying bespoke tools and dashboards for quality performance analytics and competition benchmarking, using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technological platforms to strengthen quality management systems (via product/process optimisation).

Going forward, ITC will continue to identify opportunities to create new value chains leveraging R&D insights emerging from contemporary sciences and ITC's diverse core competencies.

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