Sanjiv Puri

Puri served as the Chief Operating Officer of ITC between July 2016 and January 2017, and prior to that as President - FMCG Businesses since December 2014. Earlier, he was the Divisional Chief Executive of the India Tobacco Division since December 2009, with additional responsibility for the Company’s Trade Marketing & Distribution Vertical from August 2012. He led ITC Infotech India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC, as its Managing Director from May 2006 to August 2009. He served between October 2001 and April 2006 as the Managing Director of Surya Nepal Private Limited, a joint venture subsidiary company of ITC in Nepal.

Spearheading the ‘ITC Next’ vision, Puri has driven an extensive strategy reset to shape new horizons of growth and profitability. In the current global challenging environment, which he has defined as TURN - Turbulence, Uncertainty and Rapid Change calling for Novel strategies to reimagine the future, Puri has led the organisation to pursue future-forward strategies to redefine competitiveness and build resilience with sharper focus on cutting edge innovation, digital acceleration and new models of sustainable and inclusive growth. He has also driven synergy in businesses to launch new vectors of growth such as Fresh Food Business, ITCMAARS - the ‘phygital’ agri eco-system, and sustainable packaging solutions. Lending new wings to ITC’s credo of ‘Nation First: Sab Saath Badhein’, he has articulated an ambitious Sustainability 2.0 vision that addresses key issues such as climate change, circular economy and inclusive growth, enabling ITC to strengthen its contribution to a net-zero future and meaningfully support national priorities.

Presently, Puri is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Gandhinagar, Chairperson-in-charge of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Vadodara, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and Chairman of the CII International Council. He is also a Director on the Board of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and a Member of the Governing Board of the National Council of Applied Economic Research.

Puri is a Past President of CII, the apex business and industry association in the country. He has served as the Chairman of the Expert Group constituted by the Fifteenth Finance Commission of the Government of India to promote agri-exports, Member of the technology discussion group ‘Farm to Table - driving India’s agriculture sector digitally’ constituted by NITI Aayog, and Member of the BRICS Business Council - India Chapter. He was also 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 during India’s G20 Presidency, as well as Co-Chair of the ‘Business Commission to Tackle Inequality’ set up by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Geneva.

Puri has been recognised amongst ‘India’s Top 100 Influential People powering Technology & Innovation’ by MIT Sloan Management Review India. He was conferred with the ‘AIMA - JRD TATA Corporate Leadership Award’ by AIMA, and ‘Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace’ by XLRI, Jamshedpur. Earlier, he was honoured with the ‘Business Leader of the Year Award’ by AIMA, ‘Best CEO Award’ by Business Today, and ‘Transformational Leader Award 2022-23’ by the Asian Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability. He was named by Fortune India as the ‘Best CEO in the FMCG category’ in 2025 and featured as part of ‘Best CEOs 2024 in the Diversified Conglomerate category’. He has also been presented with the ‘IMPACT Person of the Year 2020 Award’ by exchange4media, a leading online news platform, ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award of the year 2018’ by IIT Kanpur, and bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate by XIM University, Bhubaneswar.

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