Rajesh Ponnuru took over as the Divisional Chief Executive, ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business in October 2024. Prior to this he was the Chief Operating Officer of the Business since May 2024. A Chemical Engineer from IIT Madras, he joined ITC in 2004.

In his tenure of over two decades, Rajesh has held various leadership positions across ITC's businesses including ITD, Foods and Packaging. He was part of the team responsible for setting up a globally benchmarked manufacturing unit at ITD Ranjangaon. He was instrumental in establishing the supply chain and product development functions for ITC's newly incubated Beverages and Dairy businesses. Rajesh also spearheaded - 'Project Zen' - the supply chain planning digitisation initiative at the Foods division, that aims to synchronise planning across the chain from demand forecasting till material procurement. Before moving to the Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, Rajesh was the COO of ITC's Packaging Business.