ITC’s Interrobang?! 2024 unleashes a staggering 550+ innovative ideas from 4600+ students across India’s premier Business schools

ITC has announced the grand culmination of the 14th Season of its flagship campus engagement initiative, Interrobang?!: ITC on Campus, a unique and popular program designed to foster collaboration between industry and academia. This season saw over 550 innovative ideas generated by more than 4,600 students from over 1000 student teams across India’s 18 premier management institutes. With such large scale and spontaneous campus participation, this year’s Interrobang?! lived to its promise of enhancing its impact and reach, building on the tremendous success of previous editions.

Established over thirteen years ago, Interrobang?! serves as a dynamic platform that connects students from India’s top management institutions with ITC's leaders from across industries. The term “Interrobang?!,” represented by the punctuation mark '?!', embodies the essence of inquiry and discovery. This initiative aims to provide students with the opportunity to engage with ITC’s leadership, gaining insights into the company’s best practices and success stories from across sectors like FMCG, Agri, Hotels, Paperboards and Packaging.

Since its inception, Interrobang?! has also generated over 50,000 innovative ideas from students, with many successfully implemented.

“We had a very exciting edition of Interrobang?! this year, which continues to serve as a vital bridge between ITC and premier management schools across the country,” said Amitav Mukherji, Head of Corporate Human Resources, ITC Limited. “The program not only inspires students to think outside the box but also equips them with the skills and knowledge to tackle complex business challenges. We were delighted to witness the overwhelming response to this season of Interrobang?!, filled with creativity, collaboration, and impactful ideas,” he added.

Interrobang Season 14 included three core components: the Interrobang Case Challenge, InterroJam Campus Sessions, and the Grand Finale. The Interrobang Case Challenge for Season 14 provided students with the opportunity to solve real-world business challenges by working on case-studies from iconic ITC brands, including Dark Fantasy, Mangaldeep, Nimyle, and Aashirvad Spices. Students addressed critical marketing challenges and delved into supply chain management issues within ITC's Agri Business Division, focusing on optimizing procurement efficiency and streamlining warehouse operations. Additionally, participants were able to work on key business processes such as talent development and performance management. The second pillar of Interrobang Season 14, the InterroJam Sessions, facilitated knowledge sharing between senior ITC leaders and students, emphasizing ITC’s business best practices.

Interrobang?! Season 14 kicked off with engaging campus sessions and case study presentations, culminating in a Grand Finale in Kolkata. The Grand Finale showcased a large spectrum of student initiatives as they pitched their business solutions to ITC’s senior management. The National Round was followed by an inspiring session from Mr. B Sumant, Executive Director, ITC Limited, who captivated the finalists with his rich insights into the range of opportunities that ITC provides to employees across its businesses with illustrations from his own journey in ITC.

After months of rigorous analysis, creativity, and teamwork, the National Winners and Runners-Up in each category, were announced. The list of winners is as follows:

Marketing:

• National Winner: Team Dysfunctionals from MICA, Ahmedabad

Avinash Jha

Lokit Khatri

Prithvi Khanna

Trisha Roy

• National Runner-Up: Team Acers from NMIMS, Mumbai

Meet Mahendra Shah

Meet Manish Shah

Archisman Ghosh

Annanya

Human Resource (HR):

• National Winner: Team Synergists from XLRI, Jamshedpur

Paridhi Dandwate

Kunal Nag

Nikhil Devabhaktuni

Sandeep Tiwari

• National Runner-Up: Team Achievers from SCMHRD, Pune

Saurabh Ghiya

Dheeraj Chintala

Vaishali

Jatin Meshram

Supply Chain (SCM):

• National Winner: Team The Fantastic Four from IIM Mumbai

Abhineet Singh

Aniruddha Diggiwal

Aditya Rastogi

Ankita B Dash

• National Runner-Up: Team Grain Chain from SPJIMR, Mumbai.

Kunal Maheshwari

Sourav Agarwal

Gautam Puhazhendhi

Aditya Sharma