ITC

ITC
What is ITC: ITC is an FMCG major, headquartered in Kolkata ,India. The company’s business interests spans Cigarettes & Tobacco, Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Agri-business, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing, Education & Stationery and Personal Care.
Brands:
Cigarettes: W. D. & H. O. Wills, Gold Flake Kings, Gold Flake Premium, Navy Cut, Insignia, India Kings, Classic (Verve, Menthol, Menthol Rush, Regular, Mild & Ultra Mild), 555, Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol, Lucky Strike, Players and Flake
Foods: Kitchens Of India, Aashirvaad, Minto, Sunfeast, Candyman, Bingo,
Apparel: Wills Lifestyle, John Players.
Personal Care: Fiama Di Wills, Vivel, Superia,
Stationary: Paperkraft, Classmate
Matches: iKno, Mangaldeep, Aim, Aim Mega and Aim Metro.
Agarbattis: Spriha, Mangaldeep.

History: The Company traces its origin to Wills, Watkins & Co. founded by Henry Overton Wills I and his partner Watkins, who opened a shop in Castle Street, Bristol in 1786. After the retirement of his partner in 1789, it became Wills & Co. The company pioneered canteens for the workers, free medical care, sports facilities and paid holidays. In 1830, the company was renamed W.D. & H.O. Wills. In 1901 Sir William Henry Wills formed the Imperial Tobacco Company from a merger of W.D. & H.O. Wills with seven other British tobacco companies.
ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. As the Company’s ownership progressively Indianised, the name of the Company was changed from Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974.
Trivia:

1. The company’s corporate HQ ‘Virginia House’ is located on the plot of land at 37, Chowringhee (now renamed JL Nehru Road), which it purchased on August 24, 1926 to mark its 16^th anniversary.
2. In recognition of the Company’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’.
3. The Company’s ‘e-Choupal’ initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. It has been chosen as a case study by Harvard Business School
4. In 1975 the Company launched its Hotels business with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai which was rechristened ‘ITC-Welcomgroup Hotel Chola’.
5. In 1985, ITC set up Surya Tobacco Co. in Nepal as an Indo-Nepal and British joint venture. Since inception, its shares have been held by ITC, British American Tobacco and various independent shareholders in Nepal.
6. In 1979, ITC entered the Paperboards business by promoting ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards Limited, which today has become the market leader in India. Bhadrachalam Paperboards amalgamated with the Company effective March 13, 2002