Mumbai, February 25 Sanjiv Puri, the chairman and managing director of diversified group ITC, on Wednesday termed the sharp corrections in information technology stocks as an "overreaction" by investors.
Highlighting that technology has always played an enabling role, Puri said the company, with its origins in the tobacco business and diversification into sectors such as hospitality, FMCG, and also IT services, uses AI for productivity and efficiency purposes.
"The market has been overly reactive. It has created a lot of overreaction," Puri told reporters on the sidelines of the annual NTLF event organized by Nasscom, the lobby grouping for the IT industry.
"There are use cases that are helping us improve efficiencies and productivity in the factory, in the supply chain. There are also use cases that are helping us address certain requirements that we were unable to address with tools earlier," Puri added.
The technology services industry has also experienced disruptions in the past, Puri said, pointing out that concerns were raised when ITC decided to enter the industry in 2000 around the Y2K time.
The company is using technology inputs across its businesses, Puri said, citing the example of the agri vertical, where it is studying weather patterns to assess the impact of rising temperatures over the years.
When asked about the sluggish private capital expenditure, and ITC's plans, Puri said the company does not operate in businesses requiring heavy investments and added that it has a Rs 20,000 crore plan over the medium term.
The company will also be looking at acquisitions opportunistically, he said, recalling that it undertook some acquisitions in the past.
