Yogesh Deveshwar is to step down as chief executive of ITC next year, but will then become the company’s non-executive chairman for three years.
According to a Reuters story citing a regulatory filing yesterday, ITC’s board ‘strongly urged’ Deveshwar to continue as CEO, but he wanted the company to have a younger leader.
The company has not named a successor to Deveshwar.
Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968, according to the company’s website. He has been the CEO and chairman of the company for more than two decades.
ITC, which is nearly 25 percent owned by British American Tobacco, sells four of every five cigarettes in India.
The company has been hit by higher taxes on tobacco products and a government push to discourage tobacco consumption.