In the Company’s 113th AGM address Mr. Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, ITC Ltd, shared his Vision on ITC: Stakeholder Value through Purposeful Performance. Relevant Excerpts from the speech are below:
ITC’s wholly owned subsidiary, ITC Infotech, sustained its growth momentum and global expansion through capability-led strategic partnerships. In line with its ‘Orbit Next’ strategy, ITC Infotech also augmented its portfolio of solutions. During the year, the company acquired Blazeclan Technologies to strengthen its capabilities in the Cloud services space and make scalable progress in digital transformation solutions.
ITC’s Digital Investments Transforming All Facets of Operations
ITC’s digital investments power mainstreaming of the digital-first culture, transforming all facets of operations – from insighting to product development, smart sourcing to on-time efficient delivery, superior brand engagement and marketing through real-time content, connect and commerce. An intelligent big data ecosystem leveraging Industry 4.0, AI/ML and GenAI is redefining consumer experiences and efficiencies in operations. ITC’s Trade Marketing & Distribution infrastructure has transformed into a smart omni-channel network, with a 2x growth in market coverage and 3 out of 4 retailers carrying our FMCG products. ITC has also launched 6 exclusive D2C platforms. The e-B2B platform of ITC, UNNATI, continues to be rapidly scaled up, covering nearly 7 lakh outlets.
ITCMAARS Launched ‘KrishiMitra’, World’s First GenAI-based Regional Voice Chatbot for Farmers
ITCMAARS – the ‘phygital’ eco-system that enables wider agri-tech adoption, enhances efficiencies and access to markets as well as financial services. Leveraging the power of collectives, the ITCMAARS ecosystem now constitutes over 1,650 FPOs covering more than 1.5 million farmers. By 2030, we aspire to connect over 10 million farmers. The predictive, hyperlocal & dynamic advisories coupled with an input marketplace have enhanced net farmer returns upto 30% in a short span of time. Over 10,000+ soil tests, with personalized crop nutrition recommendations based on sophisticated AI-based algorithms, have been facilitated resulting in 10-15% reduction in fertiliser usage and 15-20% improvement in crop yields. Agri-tech solutions are also being progressed across multiple value chains including drone usage, which focuses on nano nutrients and crop protection. Through remote sensing, ITCMAARS has digitized 6 million acres covering 1,000 FPOs to help deliver contextual and crop stage-specific personalized advisories. Recently, ITCMAARS launched the world’s first GenAI-based regional voice chatbot for farmers called ‘KrishiMitra’ that has been co-developed with Microsoft.
ITCMAARS also harnesses the collective knowledge garnered over decades to provide farmers best-in-class services. This includes the experience gained from ITC’s Baareh Mahine Hariyali programme, which enabled substantial increase in farmer incomes. The expertise gained has also enabled us to implement such best practices in 45 Aspirational Districts. Exclusive PPPs with NITI Aayog in 27 such districts have improved yields up to 30%, reduced cultivation costs by nearly 15%, thereby boosting farmer incomes up to 60%. In addition, over 5 lakh farmers are trained annually in best practices through Farmer Field Schools and demonstration farms organised by ITC.
