At the General Meetings, Shareholders are provided with all requisite information, unless prejudicial to the overriding interest of the Company.

Shareholders are also encouraged to write to the Company with their suggestions, comments and opinions on the working of the Company. Valid suggestions and comments are taken into consideration.

The Company’s corporate website ‘www.itcportal.com’, provides comprehensive information on ITC’s portfolio of businesses, its social responsibility activities and EHS performance. The website has entire sections dedicated to ITC’s profile, history and evolution, core values, corporate governance and leadership, and on ‘Shareholder Value’ and ‘Investor Relations’. It also provides a ready forum through which shareholders can express their views and opinions to the Company.

The Company has in place an extensive framework of policies, processes and procedures that define its approach to protection of property and rights and risk management.

ITC ensures the protection of Company property through a comprehensive insurance mechanism monitored by Corporate Accounting. External Auditors and Internal Audit Department conduct audit of financial accounting, projects and systems of all Divisions/SBUs. A Projects Policy Manual is in place. The Company has also clearly spelt out Environment, (Occupational) Health and Safety reports which are furnished every month to the Corporate Management Committee. Corporate EHS undertakes an EHS audit of all Units. All new projects are designed in accordance with corporate standards and are audited and certified by the Corporate EHS Department.

ITC has a central Corporate Accounting and Systems Policies (CASP) document. Divisions have evolved their own DASP (Divisional Accounting and Systems Policies) for their respective businesses. Other major Central/Divisional policies are:

• Policy for risk management in commodities trading
• Forex Treasury Manual
• Human Resource Policy
• Information Technology Policy

The Company is committed to complying with all the relevant statutes and has benchmarked practices in various aspects of its operations and Corporate Governance.

The Company has enunciated internal codes such as Code of Professional Conduct and Insider Trading Code. Expenditure control and monitoring is undertaken by way of monthly cost budgets along with variance analysis.

All ITC Manufacturing Units are ISO 9000 certified. The Environment Management Systems (EMS) of all Units, including Hotel properties, have ISO 14001 certification. Some ITC factories have already achieved OHSAS 18001 certification. Others are in line to achieve this certification in the near future.

Both the Green Leaf Threshing plants of the Company at Chirala and Anaparti, in Andhra Pradesh, are certified for SA 8000.

Environmental and social review of service providers

Procedures detailed under ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 and the Corporate EHS Guidelines set out detailed and comprehensive norms that all suppliers and service providers must follow. These norms and guidelines are communicated to all the service providers before they are enlisted. They are also specified on job and work orders. The EHS coordinator at each Unit is responsible for educating and inculcating ITC’s EHS norms and safe work practices to service providers and suppliers who interface with that Unit. All new ‘entrants’ from service providers are imparted EHS training. ITC Units have solicited support from the National Safety Council for training service providers and their workmen involved in large construction and erection work like the installation of the new pulping facility in ITC’s Paperboard Unit at Bhadrachalam. Planned and surprise EHS audits at the Unit level, supplemented with audits by the Corporate EHS Department and Internal Audit Department help ensure compliance with all applicable statutes and relevant labour laws.