ITC is among the first 10 companies in the world and the first from India to publish its Sustainability Report in compliance (at the highest A+ level) with the latest G3 guidelines of the Netherlands-based Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The announcement was made in a press statement by GRI, which is a UN-backed, multistakeholder international initiative to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
ITC's Sustainability Report 2006 highlights the Company's contribution to the `triple bottom line' of economic, social and environmental capital.
On the environmental front, Internationally benchmarked specific consumption of water, dedicated pursuit of the goal of zero discharge and scaling up of rainwater harvesting in several moisture-stressed districts of India have enabled ITC retain its enviable position of a 'water positive' Company for the fourth successive year. The water harvesting potential created so far is over four times the Company's net water consumption.
ITC became 'carbon positive' during the year on the back of several energy conservation measures, usage of carbon neutral fuels and carbon sequestration through large-scale agroforestry programmes. ITC is making rapid strides towards attaining 'zero solid waste' status. Upon this achievement in the near term, ITC would perhaps be the only global enterprise of its size in the world to have achieved these milestones encompassing all three critical facets of environmental sustainability.
In a nation where economic deprivation is widespread and the capacity of a large share of its citizens to participate effectively in economic growth is grossly limited, ITC seeks to contribute in meaningful measure towards social empowerment and genderised development. The ITC e-Choupal and Choupal Saagar infrastructure - a combination of digital, human and physical assets - already serves over 3.5 million farmers and is potentially an efficient delivery channel for rural development. Similarly, ITC's social farm forestry strategy enables the creation of substantial employment both on farms and off farms, besides converting private wastelands into productive assets, and simultaneously addressing serious issues relating to biomass depletion, soil erosion, water security, ecological balance and biodiversity.
On the economic front, Total Shareholder Returns over the last decade, measured in terms of increase in market capitalisation and dividends, grew at a compound rate of over 30% per annum, placing ITC among the foremost in the country in terms of efficiency in servicing financial capital. During the same time period, value addition by ITC has grown at a compound annual rate of more than 12% to over Rs. 68,000 crores, representing nearly 1.1% of the value-added by the Industry sector of the economy. Nearly 77% of such value-added accrued to the Exchequer, providing the much-needed resources for deployment in developmental priorities. Foreign exchange earnings of the ITC Group during this period amounted to nearly US $ 2.5 billion, of which earnings from agri exports constituted nearly 65%. These earnings from linking the Indian farmer with world markets represent well over 2% of the country's agri exports.
ITC's investments of over Rs. 6,000 crores in the last decade towards enhancing the competitiveness of its businesses support direct employment to the tune of 20,000 and indirect employment across the value chains of nearly 5 million people, whose livelihoods are substantially linked to their association with ITC. The investment plans envisaging Rs.14,000-15,000 crores over the next few years would further enlarge ITC's economic contribution.
ITC's engagement across diverse value chains spans the farming community, small enterprises and shopowners in the small, medium and cottage sectors. The Company's new FMCG businesses alone support the competitiveness of over 120 vendors in the SME sector thereby enabling them to adopt best practices, induct superior capabilities, and eliminate reprehensible practices like child labour.
