By the end of September this year, India will have its first branded chocolate boutique as the Kolkata-based cigarette to FMCG major, ITC Ltd, makers of the Fabelle luxury chocolate brand, has decided to finally come up with two such boutiques in Delhi and Kolkata, outside its hotel premises.

"Spaces have been identified and will be operational sometime next quarter. The identified spaces will be our own in the current phase to ensure quality and a befitting experience for the consumer", Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive of the foods business at ITC Ltd told Business Standard.

ITC, BASF, Avanti Feeds, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Grasim Industries and Aditya Birla Nuvo from the S&P BSE 500 index hitting their respective record highs on BSE in intra-day trade on Friday.

ITC has moved higher to its new high of Rs 324, up 4% on BSE on back of heavy volumes. Till 02:44 pm; a combined 19.21 million shares have changed hands, as compared to an average sub 10 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on BSE and NSE.

ITC Ltd, at its forthcoming annual general meeting, will be placing before its shareholders a proposal to approve a salary of Rs 12 crore per annum to Y C Deveshwar, its non-executive chairman. This is in addition to the salary he is entitled to as non-executive director of the company.

As per the company, non-executive directors are entitled to remuneration by way of commission for each financial year, ranging between Rs 30-60 lakh.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) said on Friday that it has been investing in cigarette maker ITC with the bonafide objective of enhancing returns for its policyholders, investors and in the interest of public welfare.

LIC, state insurers and the Centre have been dragged to the Bombay High Court because of a public interest litigation (PIL) that questioned the government's investment in ITC and other tobacco companies.

Diversified conglomerate ITC will be rolling out new product categories every quarter in perishable foods like fruits and vegetables, going forth. “There is a lot of work in process right now. Essentially, there are two vectors along which rollouts are going to happen.

First, new categories that require climate-controlled ecosystem will be launched, like fruits and vegetables. That will happen every quarter. Second, within existing categories, there would be value addition,” S Sivakumar, group head, agri and IT businesses, said.

Farming provides livelihood to about 50 per cent of the workforce in the country. The government wants to double farmers’ income by 2022. ITC is trying to help this by attracting the next generation of farmers to sustainable activities as an aggregator.

Diversified conglomerate ITC plans to provide agricultural services through its showcase project, e-Choupal, which leverages information technology to empower farmers.

ITC hit a new high of Rs 320, up 3.6% on BSE in intra-day trade, extending its Friday’s 3% gain, after reported January-March quarter (Q4FY17) earnings.

At 10:41 am; the stock was trading 3% higher at Rs 318 on BSE, as compared to a marginal 0.03% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

ITC gained as much as 5% to Rs 300, extending its Friday’s 3% gain on BSE, after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has announced the tax rates for the various items.

The stock is trading at its highest level on BSE and on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). It was the largest gainer among the S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 index at 09:52 am. A combined 8.74 million shares changed hands on the counter on BSE and NSE so far.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to restrain Britannia Industries from manufacturing and selling its digestive biscuit NutriChoice Zero, an injunction sought by rival ITC which sells its biscuits under the brand Sunfeast Farmlite Digestive All Good biscuit. A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi while issuing notice to Britannia said: “No injunction… we will examine it” on July 11, the next date of hearing.

The Bombay High Court (HC) on Thursday impleaded cigarette major ITC, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in the public interest litigation (PIL) against investment in tobacco companies by the government and state-owned insurance companies. The court also granted farmers' association request to be part of the PIL.

The court directed the new respondents to file their respective affidavits in reply to the petition within six weeks. The next hearing in the matter is likely within eight weeks.

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