ITC's Deveshwar receives global leadership award

The US-India Business Council has presented its global leadership award to ITC Limited's chairman and CEO YC 'Yogi' Deveshwar in recognition of his efforts towards empowering India's rural agricultural community and conserving the environment.

The award was presented to Deveshwar during USIBC's 35th Anniversary Summit, 'A Pivotal Period in US-India Relations: Tackling Education, Infrastructure & Inclusive Growth', in Washington on Wednesday.

USIBC said that under Deveshwar's leadership, ITC Ltd has invested in rural initiatives across India while embracing environmentally-friendly practices at its headquarters and field offices, besides equipping all ITC-Welcomgroup Hotels, Palaces and Resorts with green technologies.

United Technologies Corporation, known for manufacturing Otis Elevators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines and Sikorsky helicopters, feted the ITC chairman with the prestigious USIBC Global Leadership Award.

The award was previously bestowed upon corporate greats like Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji and Sunil Bharti Mittal.

UTC India's Jothi Purushotaman presented the award. The award will establish a new learning library at New Delhi in Deveshwar's name through international literacy organisation 'Room to Read' as well as provide three years of associated teacher training, books and learning material, including monitoring support.

ITC-Welcomgroup is India's second-largest hotel chain. ITC Ltd, which figures in the Forbes Global 2000 list of companies, is one of India's top agricultural exporters.

The company is well-known for empowering India's vast farming community through the provision of computer-generated information on instant pricing, weather and commodities to rural India through its innovative e-Choupal Initiative.

It reaches out to more than four million farmers across eight Indian states. Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968.

He was appointed as a director on the company board in 1984, and later became its chief executive and chairman on January 1, 1996.

Image: YC 'Yogi' Deveshwar