NEW DELHI: While there will be some moderation, for some time, inflation will continue to remain at elevated levels from what it was in the past, ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri said addressing a virtual press meet on Thursday.
“As far as commodity prices are concerned, there is some cooling off for sure but to predict the outlook is difficult as multiple factors are at play. However, whenever savings are there, that will be passed on to the consumers,” Puri said, adding that the situation is fairly dynamic and one has to constantly monitor it.
Talking about consumer demand recovery, Puri said that at a larger industry level, as far as agriculture, hotels, paperboard and packaging are concerned, the demand for the industry is robust. However, he said, as far as FMCG is concerned, there are demand concerns arising out of inflation and there is more value-seeking behavior. He added, out of-home categories are doing better as compared to earlier with economic activities having been completely normalised.
Puri hinted at a possible de-merger of the hotel business during the press conference, saying, “Now that there are indications of industry on a positive trajectory, it is very much on the table.” The company operates 113 properties under its hotel business.
The company has also launched ITCMAARS (Meta Market for Advanced Agricultural Services) to bring in the benefits of state-of-the-art digital technologies to farmers. “The newly launched super app ITCMAARS is designed to provide maximum support to marginal farmers at their doorsteps, to give them the benefits of the best in technology and access to markets,” said Puri.