ITC CEO Yogesh Deveshwar to step down next year

ITC Ltd, India's largest cigarette maker, said Yogesh Deveshwar would step down as chief executive next year and serve as non-executive chairman for three years thereafter.

ITC's board had "strongly urged" Deveshwar to continue as CEO, but he wanted the company to have a younger leader, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The company did not name a successor to Deveshwar.

Deveshwar, 69, joined ITC in 1968, according to the company's website. He has been the CEO and chairman of the company for more than two decades.

In a notification to the BSE, the company said, "When Mr. Deveshwar assumed office as Executive Chairman in January, 1996, the company was confronted with formidable challenges....The contributions of Mr. Deveshwar are far too many to recount but an attempt is being made to cover some of the salient ones."

The statement from the company also noted that when Deveshwar under his tenure and leadership, the company's revenue has grown from Rs 5,200 crore to Rs 51,582 crore, a near ten-fold jump. 

Between 1991 and 1994, Deveshwar led state-owned carrier Air India as chairman and managing director. He's also a director on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India.

ITC, which is nearly 25% owned by British American Tobacco Plc, sells four of every five cigarettes in India. The Indian company has been hit by higher taxes on tobacco products and a government push to discourage tobacco consumption. 

On Wednesday, intraday the company's shares were trading down 0.35% or Rs 1.25 at Rs 357.30 a piece.