ITC Limited, the Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata, is known for its diversified presence across industries such as FMCG, hotels, software, packaging, paperboards, specialty papers, and agribusiness.
Not many know that ITC Limited was originally named "Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited", succeeding W.D. & H.O. Wills on 24 August 1910, as a British-owned company registered in Kolkata.
ITC was established in 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, as a subsidiary of the British American Tobacco Company. In its initial years, it primarily dealt with tobacco products, which included cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco.
A leased office on Radha Bazar Lane, Kolkata, was the centre of the company's existence. The company celebrated its 16th birthday on August 24, 1926, by purchasing the plot of land situated at 37, Chowringhee, (now renamed J.L. Nehru Road) Kolkata, for the sum of Rs 3,10,000.
In 1928, construction began for ITC's headquarters, the 'Virginia House' at Calcutta, now Kolkata. ITC acquired Carreras Tobacco Company's factory at Kidderpore in 1935, and it set up an indigenous cigarette tissue-paper-making plant in 1946.
Though the first six decades of the ITC's existence were primarily devoted to the growth and consolidation of the cigarettes and leaf tobacco businesses, ITC's Packaging & Printing Business was set up in 1925 as a strategic backward integration for ITC's cigarettes business, according to the company's website.
ITC was converted into a Public Limited Company on October 27, 1954. The first step towards Indianisation was taken in the same year with 6% of the Indian shareholding of the company. It became the first Indian company to foray into consumer research during this time.
Ajit Narain Haskar became the first Indian chairman of ITC in 1969, and this was crucial in building up the Indian management for the company. As the company's ownership was progressively Indianised, the name of the company was changed to "India Tobacco Company Limited" in 1970.
In 1973, ITC set up an integrated research centre in Bangalore, which was aimed at diversification and venturing into newer businesses with research and development. With the unfolding diversification plans, the name of the company was changed once again, and it was renamed to 'I.T.C. Limited' in 1974.
In recognition of the ITC's multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses, the full stops in the company's name were removed effective September 18, 2001. The company now stands rechristened 'ITC Limited’, where 'ITC' is today no longer an acronym or an initialised form, as per ITC official website.
ITC's equity shares are listed on BSE, National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). ITC is a constituent of both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50. As of March 31, 2023, FII and DII hold 43.4% and 42.1% stake in the company respectively, while public shareholders hold 14.5% stake. ITC share price fell marginally to Rs 425 on NSE today.