New Delhi: Diversified major ITC has announced that Y C Deveshwar will quit in February as Executive Chairman and CEO, posts he held for 20 years, and become a non-executive chairman.

The announcement that 69-year-old Deveshwar will hand over the baton to a “youthful leadership” was made in a notice to shareholders for their upcoming annual general meeting on July 22.

Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968 and assumed office as Executive Chairman in January, 1996. His re-appointment as a Director and also as Wholetime Director and Chairman for a period of five years with effect from February 5, 2012 was approved in the company’s AGM in July, 2011. At the meeting, the company will seek the shareholders’ nod to appoint him as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman for a period of three years with effect from February 5, 2017. In the notice to the shareholders, tobacco to hospitality conglomerate said Deveshwar has expressed “his desire to shed the executive role” and “put in place a youthful leadership at the helm in the longer term interest of the company”. “Deveshwar will complete his present term on February 4, 2017. This AGM will be his last as Chief Executive Officer of the company,” ITC said. At the request of the Nomination & Compensation Committee and the Board, recognising the need for orderly transition, he has agreed to provide guidance and mentorship to the new executive management, that is planned to be put in place, as Non-Executive Chairman on expiry of his current term. Last year the company had announced changes in senior positions, including the elevation of Sanjiv Puri as president of its packaged goods business, taking charge as Executive Director while B Sumant took over as President-FMCG. When Deveshwar took charge at the helm in mid-90’s, ITC was confronted with formidable challenges with diversification efforts either failing or languishing. The company’s revenue was less than Rs 5,200 crore and Profit Before Tax (PBT) was Rs 452 crore. Today it has grown ten-fold to Rs 51,582 crore and PBT has grown 33 times to Rs 14,958 crore, ITC said. He led the transformation of ITC known mostly as a cigarette maker to a diversified group with presence ranging from FMCG, hospitality, paperboard and packaging, IT and agri business. Under his stewardship, the company also created several world-class Indian Brands in the FMCG space. — PTI