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ITC plans to hand another five-year stint as chairman to YC Deveshwar when his tenure ends next year, but the cigarette maker said the veteran executive and one of India's most high profile professional managers may serve a part of his new term in a non-executive role.

The company detailed these plans - the first time the tobacco-to-hotels conglomerate has spoken about succession planning - in a notice to stock exchanges and investors, announcing its proposed annual general meeting. The notice said ITC had proposed the re-appointment of 64-year-old Deveshwar as chairman for another five years with effect from February 5 next year, adding that the board may determine that - as a part of succession planning - he may serve a part of this tenure as a 'non-executive chairman.

This, if it happens, may herald an unprecedented bifurcation of the top job at ITC, bringing it closer to what is increasingly an accepted international practice of having separate individuals as CEO and chairman.

It will also trigger speculation and a hunt for who could become the hands on manager at ITC as managing director or CEO when Deveshwar becomes non-executive chairman, especially whether it will be any of the existing senior officials or an outsider. An ITC spokesman confirmed the contents of the notice, a copy of which is in ET's possession, but declined to comment on possible changes in months and years ahead.

Deveshwar has spent almost his entire career with ITC

Joined ITC in '68 after passing out from IIT-D
Inducted into the board of directors in '84
Became chief executive & chairman on January 1, 1996
Has given shape to many unique business models at ITC
Served as CMD of Air India between 1991 and 1994
Was president of CII in 2005-06
Was conferred the Padma Bhushan this year

Succession planning has become a hot issue across India's biggest companies. A few days ago, veteran banker KV Kamath succeeded Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy as chairman, albeit in a nonexecutive capacity. The Tata group is looking for a replacement for Ratan Tata, while engineering major L&T is scouting for a replacement for AM Naik.

Deveshwar has steered ITC for the past 15 years, during which he has helped grow its mainstay cigarettes business, expanded its presence in the hospitality sector and spearheaded its entry into a raft of new areas such as FMCG, foods, and retail. He took on the reins in January 1996 at a time when ITC was facing a difficult time, with some senior executives being probed by investigative agencies amid a public confrontation with its largest shareholder BAT plc. He was successful in lowering temperatures and the UK firm continues to own over 30% of ITC.

Deveshwar, who received a compensation of Rs 8.39 crore for the year to March 2011, is an ITC lifer. He joined the company in 1968 straight from IIT Delhi and has been with the company since, except for a brief stint as the chairman and managing director of Air India between 1991 and 1994.

Kolkata-headquartered ITC is a company steeped in tradition, a hangover from its British ancestry. It has for decades attracted some of the brightest minds from business school campuses, many of whom joined the company straight after college, stayed on and were promoted to senior positions. The company has traditionally promoted internal talent and only rarely parachuted in talent from outside for top positions.

At present, ITC has three executive directors on its board - Kurush Grant, PV Dhobale and Nakul Anand - and it is almost certain the company will pick one of them when Deveshwar relinquishes his executive role.

Grant oversees ITC's FMCG business and is in charge of everything from cigarettes to foods, personal care, lifestyle retailing, education and stationery products, including its matches and agarbatti businesses.

Anand looks after hospitality, travel and tourism businesses, while Dhobale looks after ITC's paperboards, speciality paper and packaging businesses.

Grant became a director in March last year, while Dhobale and Anand became directors in January this year. Two other resolutions being put up for shareholders' approval at the annual meeting pertains to the reappointment of Dhobale and Anand as wholetime directors for three years.