ITC chairman and noted industrialist Y C Deveshwar passed away on Saturday after a prolonged illness. He passed away at a private hospital in Gurugram. He was 72 and is survived by his wife, daughter, and son. Deveshwar was India’s longest serving CEO and had received the Padma Bhushan in 2011, the country’s highest civilian award.
Deveshwar had joined ITC in 1968 and subsequently became the company’s executive chairman in 1996. Under his leadership, ITC was successful in warding a takeover threat from BAT and it made a successful diversification in the FMCG category. Later in 2017, he stepped down from the executive role but remained as a chairman in a non-executive capacity. Sanjiv Puri is the current CEO and MD of the company.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted,
Deveshwar was an alumnus of Indian Institue of Technology-Delhi and the Harvard Business School. He had also served as a director on the board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and member of the National Foundation for Corporate Governance.
May His Soul Rest In Peace.
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