Diversified ITC Group today announced the elevation of its MD Sanjiv Puri as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company. The announcement was made as the company revealed its Q4 result for FY19. Puri has been elevated after industry leader and former Chairman YC Deveshwar passed away Saturday morning after a brief illness. Deveshwar (72) had stepped down from executive role in 2017 but remained as a chairman in non-executive capacity. "The Board of Directors of the company at the meeting held today appointed Sanjiv Puri, Managing Director, also as the Chairman of the Company with effect from May 13, 2019. Consequently, Puri's new designation is Chairman and Managing Director of the company," ITC said in a regulatory filing.

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In 2017, ITC had split the role of the Executive Chairman between Chairman and Chief Executive Officer as part of succession planning in the company. Deveshwar had played the role of mentor to the executive management led by Sanjiv Puri. The latter is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and Wharton School of Business. He has been associated with ITC for a long time now. He joined ITC in 1986.

He was appointed as a Director on the Board of ITC with effect from December 6, 2015 and Chief Executive Officer from February 5, 2017 taking independent charge of the executive leadership of the Company. He is also the Chairman of the Corporate Management Committee. On My 16, 2018, Puri was appointed as the Managing Director of the company. 

Prior to his appointment as a Director on the Board of ITC, Puri was President, FMCG Businesses - Cigarettes, Foods, Personal Care, Education & Stationery Products, Matches and Agarbattis, since December 2014.

According to the ITC website, Puri has handled a wide range of responsibilities including business leadership positions as well as in manufacturing, operations and information & digital technology. He became Divisional Chief Executive of the Tobacco Division in 2009, with additional responsibility for the Company's Trade Marketing & Distribution Vertical. He has led ITC Infotech India Limited (I3L), a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC, as its Managing Director from May 2006 to August 2009. 

Puri served between 2001 and 2006 as the Managing Director of Surya Nepal Private Limited (SNPL), a joint venture subsidiary company of ITC in Nepal. He has also been a Director on the Board of The Tobacco Institute of India and past Member of the Board of Governors of the Media Research Users Council. He has served as the Chairman of FICCI's FMCG Committee, the Agri & Food Processing Task Force of the CII Eastern Region and as a Council Member of the CII Eastern Region. He was also on the Executive Council of The Indian Society of Advertisers.