Corporate patriot YC Deveshwar passes away

YC Deveshwar, chairman of the tobacco-to-Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) major ITC Ltd, passed away in Gurugram on Saturday morning after a brief illness. Known simply as 'YCD' to his peers, the 72-year-old was among the nation's longest serving chief executives. He leaves behind his wife Bharti, children Gaurav and Garima.

"We recall with respect and pride the legendary stewardship he provided over two decades," said Sanjiv Puri, ITC Ltd, MD. "Inspired by patriotic fervour, manifest in his clarion call of 'Let's Put India First', he led the strategic thrust to create an enterprise dedicated to serving national priorities."

Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968 and became the executive chairman in 1996. He stepped down from an executive role in 2017, but continued as chairman in a non-executive capacity.

In 2012, Harvard Business Review (HBR) ranked him as the seventh Best Performing Chief Executive Officer in the world. Conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2011 for his outstanding service to the nation, he championed sustainable and inclusive growth, and held that business could play a transformative role in creating larger societal value.

"This vision created a bedrock of corporate strategy that led ITC to become a global exemplar in sustainability and the only firm in the world to be carbon positive, water positive and solid waste positive for over a decade," said Puri.

Putting India First

• YC Deveshwar was born on February 4, 1947 in Lahore
• He studied at IIT-Delhi and Harvard University
• Served as chairman and Managing Director of Air India from 1991 to 1994
• He also served as a director on RBI’s Central Board
• Battled British American Tobacco to ensure ITC remained an Indian company