Calcutta, July 25: ITC Ltd has appointed Sanjiv Puri as its chief operating officer with immediate effect as the city-based conglomerate prepares itself for a new journey after February 2017 when incumbent chairman Yogesh Chander Deveshwar relinquishes executive role.

Puri will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company, the Indian market leader in tobacco with interests in food, personal care, hotel and paper said in a tweet. It also informed the stock exchanges that the board of directors had redesignated Puri as COO in a meeting on July 22.

An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, who joined ITC in 1986, 53-year-old Puri was made the additional executive director of the company in December, a move widely seen as part of a succession plan. As executive director, he is responsible for the FMCG, paper, paperboards and packaging businesses of the company.

Before his appointment as director, Puri was president of the FMGC business, a position created for him just as the post of COO.

As president since December 2014, Puri looked after cigarette, food, personal care, education and stationery products, matches and agarbattis.

He became the chief executive of the tobacco division in 2009, handling additionally trade marketing and distribution. He was also the managing director of ITC Infotech India Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC, from 2006 to 2009.

The reshuffle announced today indicates Puri will succeed Deveshwar, 69, as CEO when the latter gives up his executive role after February 5, 2017, capping the longest term - over two decades - as the chairman of ITC.

Deveshwar, however, will remain on the board as a non-executive chairman for three years.

Industry observers said Puri would have a big shoe to fill up once he steps into the role. During his tenure, Deveshwar not only took the company out of the shadows of a tax dispute which was about to engulf ITC but also retained its Indian character despite the presence of overseas shareholders.

He also diversified ITC into food and personal care businesses, strengthened the hotel portfolio and the information technology venture. As a result, the company now earns more than half of its revenue from non-cigarette businesses.

In his address to shareholders at the AGM last week, Deveshwar outlined the strategy to be the No.1 FMCG player in India and reach a turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030.