Jagdish Narain Sapru (16 November 1933 – 8 May 2007) was an Indian businessman. He was the former chairman of ITC Limited, BOC India, DIC India (Formerly Coates of India),

Nicco Park Nicco Park is an amusement park located in Jheel Meel, Sector - IV of Bidhannagar, West Bengal, India. The park was created to attract tourists to the state by providing family-friendly recreation as well as educative entertainment. Nicco P ...

, and the Indian Chamber of Commerce. He was also the president of the Tollygunge Club, a golf club in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. Sapru was voted as one of the 'CEOs who Rock' by Asia Africa Intelligence Wire in 2003 and was also an honorary fellow of the All India Management Association. He was the grandson of Indian lawyer, political, and social leader Sir

Tej Bahadur Sapru Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru (8 December 1875 20 January 1949) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, and politician. He was a key figure in India's struggle for independence, helping draft the Indian Constitution. He was the leader of the Liberal pa ...

Early life

Jagdish Narain Sapru was born on 16 November 1933 in

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

(in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

) to a

Kashmiri Brahmin The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha-Gauda, Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountai ...

family. He was educated at the

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

where he achieved an M.A. in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

ITC

Sapru joined ITC as a 'sales pupil' in 1955. In the mid '60s, he was posted in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

(now

), and eventually made his permanent home there. He joined the board in 1974, and became chairman in 1983, succeeding his brother-in-law

Ajit Narain Haksar Ajit Narain Haksar (11 January 1925 – 19 May 2005) was the first Indian chairman of ITC Limited and was voted the Chairman Emeritus of the company. He has received the 'Outstanding Industrialist Award' and the 'Udyog Rattan Award.' Early life A ...

. In his tenure as chairman, Sapru was responsible for ITC diversifying into the agriculture sector. He retired from ITC in 1991.

Family life

Sapru was survived by his wife Gita, two sons, Nirukt and Rakesh, daughters-in-law Abha and Sonya, and three grandchildren Abhirukt, Mihika and Sarojini. He was a keen golfer and cricketer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapru, Jagdish Narain 1933 births 2007 deaths Kashmiri people Scholars from Allahabad University of Allahabad alumni