Mr. S. Sivakumar is the Group Head of Agri and IT Businesses of ITC Limited, India (www.itcportal.com) and a Member of its Corporate Management Committee.

ITC is one of India's foremost multi-business enterprises with a market capitalisation of US$ 50 billion and a turnover of US$ 8 billion, with business interests in Consumer Goods, Hotels, Agri Business, Paperboards, Packaging, and Information Technology.

Mr Sivakumar is well known as the architect of ITC e-Choupal, the pioneering farmer empowerment initiative that benefits over 4 million small farmers through customised agri-extension and market linkage services, while providing a unique source of competitive advantage to ITC's packaged foods business.

Topper of the Class of 1983 from the Institute of Rural Management Anand, (IRMA), Sivakumar worked with a farmers' cooperative for six years before joining ITC in 1989.

Mr Sivakumar blogs at http://shivsthirdeye.blogspot.com/ He can also be reached at @S_Sivakumar on Twitter.

S. Sivakumar