ITC: The remaking of a giant | Intermission E04 | The Ken
The Ken
39,833 views
ITC is the great paradox of Indian business: a tobacco company that spent decades trying to become something other than a tobacco company, and pulled it off.
Getting there meant surviving a tax demand five times its net worth, the arrest of two former chairmen, and a long, bruising war with BAT for control of the company. It meant winning at atta when even Hindustan Unilever couldn't, rewiring how India's farmers sell their crops, and building it all without a founder or a family at the helm.
Today ITC turns over roughly ₹80,000 crore, owns a ₹9,000 crore brand in Aashirvaad alone, and counts the Indian government as its single largest shareholder. Among them, LIC, which insures the lives of the very smokers keeping ITC's profits alight.
This is the story of how a colonial cigarette company became one of India's most valuable — and most unlikely — conglomerates. Tune in!
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You can also watch/listen to the entire episode on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HDu...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast...
----------
We also have an interactive companion page to explore the history of ITC with reading lists, infographics and source notes: https://the-ken.com/intermission/the-...
----------
Chapters:
00:00 – Disclaimer
00:25 – Introduction
03:51 – Chapter 1: The herb that changed the world
11:34 – Chapter 2: Britain to India via America
19:41 – Chapter 3: Imperial Tobacco Company teaches India to smoke cigarettes
28:00 – Chapter 4: Ajit Haksar’s baptism by fire
38:02 – Chapter 5: A short history of cigarette advertising
47:33 – Chapter 6: Imperial Tobacco Company to India Tobacco Company to I.T.C
56:51 – Chapter 7: ITC Hotels and food: made for each other
01:05:05 – Chapter 8: I.T.C loses its way
01:13:04 – Chapter 9: The showdown with BAT
01:20:01 – Chapter 10: Deveshwar pulls off a perilous tightrope walk
01:35:35 – Chapter 11: e-Choupal and a new supply chain
01:46:12 – Chapter 12: Beating the odds in FMCG
02:04:42 – Chapter 13: Reimagining hotels and FMCG
02:13:21 – Chapter 14: An FMCG company that also makes cigarettes?
----------
Credits:
Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G
Podcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao
Director: Vijay Subramaniam
Video Producer: Vishnu S
Sound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CN
Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra
Art Direction: Kavipriya OG
Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath
Production Agency: Nesara Films
Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap
DoP: Subash KP
Animation: Karthik N
Video Editing Team: Spandan Joshi, Prajwal
Colourist: Akhil Raj
Graphic Design and Styleframes: Anusha Sarah
On-Set Production: Veeresh and team
Production Coordination: Kevin Raj
Audio: Murthy and team
Spot Edit: Girish
Set Design: Saanvi Joshi, Thejaswini
Promotions: Pranav Pate, Adhavan RK
Writer (Microsite): Brady Ng
Editor: Sumit Chakraborty
Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar
'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer Rahat
----------
About Intermission:
Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1.
Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken.
You can watch the previous episodes here:
Asian Paints (Part 1): Intermission E01 - Asian Paints [PART 1]
Asian Paints (Part 2): Intermission E01 - Asian Paints [PART 2]
Bajaj Finance: Intermission E02 - Bajaj Finance
Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel's impossible survival story ...
About The Ken:
The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit https://the-ken.com and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.
Follow The Ken on socials:
Instagram: Instagram: theken_web
LinkedIn: LinkedIn: the-ken
Twitter: http://x.com/thekenweb/
20 Comments
My week content consumption is sorted
Btw loved the sheer effort that went into this episode
Kudos 👏 ❤
ITC: The remaking of a giant | Intermission E04 | The Ken
The Ken
39,833 views
ITC is the great paradox of Indian business: a tobacco company that spent decades trying to become something other than a tobacco company, and pulled it off.
Getting there meant surviving a tax demand five times its net worth, the arrest of two former chairmen, and a long, bruising war with BAT for control of the company. It meant winning at atta when even Hindustan Unilever couldn't, rewiring how India's farmers sell their crops, and building it all without a founder or a family at the helm.
Today ITC turns over roughly ₹80,000 crore, owns a ₹9,000 crore brand in Aashirvaad alone, and counts the Indian government as its single largest shareholder. Among them, LIC, which insures the lives of the very smokers keeping ITC's profits alight.
This is the story of how a colonial cigarette company became one of India's most valuable — and most unlikely — conglomerates. Tune in!
---------
You can also watch/listen to the entire episode on:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HDu...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast...
----------
We also have an interactive companion page to explore the history of ITC with reading lists, infographics and source notes: https://the-ken.com/intermission/the-...
----------
Chapters:
00:00 – Disclaimer
00:25 – Introduction
03:51 – Chapter 1: The herb that changed the world
11:34 – Chapter 2: Britain to India via America
19:41 – Chapter 3: Imperial Tobacco Company teaches India to smoke cigarettes
28:00 – Chapter 4: Ajit Haksar’s baptism by fire
38:02 – Chapter 5: A short history of cigarette advertising
47:33 – Chapter 6: Imperial Tobacco Company to India Tobacco Company to I.T.C
56:51 – Chapter 7: ITC Hotels and food: made for each other
01:05:05 – Chapter 8: I.T.C loses its way
01:13:04 – Chapter 9: The showdown with BAT
01:20:01 – Chapter 10: Deveshwar pulls off a perilous tightrope walk
01:35:35 – Chapter 11: e-Choupal and a new supply chain
01:46:12 – Chapter 12: Beating the odds in FMCG
02:04:42 – Chapter 13: Reimagining hotels and FMCG
02:13:21 – Chapter 14: An FMCG company that also makes cigarettes?
----------
Credits:
Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G
Podcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao
Director: Vijay Subramaniam
Video Producer: Vishnu S
Sound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CN
Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra
Art Direction: Kavipriya OG
Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath
Production Agency: Nesara Films
Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap
DoP: Subash KP
Animation: Karthik N
Video Editing Team: Spandan Joshi, Prajwal
Colourist: Akhil Raj
Graphic Design and Styleframes: Anusha Sarah
On-Set Production: Veeresh and team
Production Coordination: Kevin Raj
Audio: Murthy and team
Spot Edit: Girish
Set Design: Saanvi Joshi, Thejaswini
Promotions: Pranav Pate, Adhavan RK
Writer (Microsite): Brady Ng
Editor: Sumit Chakraborty
Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar
'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer Rahat
----------
About Intermission:
Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1.
Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken.
You can watch the previous episodes here:
Asian Paints (Part 1): Intermission E01 - Asian Paints [PART 1]
Asian Paints (Part 2): Intermission E01 - Asian Paints [PART 2]
Bajaj Finance: Intermission E02 - Bajaj Finance
Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel's impossible survival story ...
About The Ken:
The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit https://the-ken.com and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.
Follow The Ken on socials:
Instagram: Instagram: theken_web
LinkedIn: LinkedIn: the-ken
Twitter: http://x.com/thekenweb/
Do check it out here:
https://the-ken.com/intermission/the-fmcg-company-in-a-cigarette-pack-itc
Thank you for all the support you've been showing Intermission!❤