ITC deepens digital investments across business verticals: Annual report

NEW DELHI: ITC Ltd. has announced a sweeping digital transformation across its operations, unveiling a multi-pronged strategy to build a “Future-Tech” enterprise through investments in next-generation technologies across marketing, commerce, product development, and operations. The company’s latest Annual Report for FY25 outlines a robust digital roadmap under its flagship programme, ‘Mission DigiArc’, which is accelerating ITC’s pivot to a digitally driven, agile enterprise.

According to the report, ITC has emerged as a pioneer in deploying digital solutions to enhance consumer experience, business model innovation, smart operations, and employee engagement. The focus spans multiple business divisions—from FMCG and agri-business to paperboards and trade marketing—with AI, machine learning, IoT, and data analytics at the core.

FMCG Business: ITC’s FMCG arm is leveraging digital tools to drive consumer-centric innovation, deepen engagement, and build loyalty. The company has rolled out an ‘Always On’ digital marketing strategy, creating personalised consumer journeys across channels. A newly launched Real Time Consumer Data Platform aims to connect consumer insights directly to brand experience, reflecting the company’s ambition to craft seamless, context-aware interactions. Investments in AI/ML-powered data harmonisation, Industry 4.0, and smart manufacturing are helping optimise planning, supply chain management, and demand forecasting.

Trade Marketing and Distribution: ITC’s Trade Marketing & Distribution (TM&D) division continues to harness digital technologies to improve market servicing and deepen retailer relationships. Custom mobility solutions, machine learning algorithms, and self-service analytics are now integrated into trade decisions, enhancing precision and agility.

The company’s eB2B platform, UNNATI, has scaled to nearly 800,000 retail outlets, offering personalised product recommendations, digital payments, and access to financing via collaborations with banks and fintech partners.

Paperboards & Specialty Papers: In its Paperboards & Specialty Papers segment, ITC has initiated a broad Digital Transformation Programme to enhance manufacturing, logistics, and workforce safety. The business is deploying industrial IoT, AI-driven image analytics, and process digital twins for real-time optimisation and operational excellence. A dedicated initiative named ‘OJAS’ has transformed the supply chain, improving key customer service metrics like On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) and Order to Delivery Time (ODLT). The business has also adopted over 40 custom-built digital applications spanning analytics, simulations, and intelligent diagnostics.

Agri Business: ITC is rapidly digitising Indian agriculture through its ITCMAARS (Metamarket for Advanced Agriculture and Rural Services) platform, combining digital apps and on-ground FPO networks. The ITCMAARS super app, available in eight languages, now supports over 2.1 million farmers across 11 states and more than 2,050 FPOs.

This crop-agnostic platform uses AI/ML-based crop advisories, satellite imagery, voice-enabled GenAI chatbots, and real-time soil diagnostics to deliver personalised agricultural solutions.

Its KrishiMitra voice assistant—the world’s first generative AI chatbot for farmers—has led to significant increases in digital adoption and farm

productivity.