Bhat cited how Colgate, the toothpaste brand, has finalised the design of “a first-of-its-kind recyclable tube”. The change is part of the company’s efforts to have recyclable packaging for all its products by 2025.

The second session was a fireside chat on the aviation industry between Sanjay Kumar, chief operating officer of Air Asia India, and Saumitra Dasgupta, editor, business, The Telegraph.

On bilateral rights — an agreement between two countries allowing each other’s airlines to operate services with a specific number of seats — Kumar said it was time Indian carriers focussed on creating a transit hub in India.

“Emirates operates 16 flights a day in London, generating 50 per cent of their profits. Nearly 50 per cent of the traffic is from India. Whether it is Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Singapore — all these hubs are thriving on Indian travellers. We should focus on creating a hub in India,” he said.

The final session included Sumant Sood, head of innovation in Titan Co Ltd, Sanjoy Mukherjee, vice-president, distribution-technical, CESC, and Rohit NRN, brand manager-Engage, personal care business of ITC. The three spoke on growing through innovations.

Best business innovations go beyond business and serve the society, the custodian of one of the biggest brands said in Calcutta on Friday.

“Innovation can come in many forms — product or service, marketing or the entire business model. But best innovations not only differentiate between brands, they serve the society as well,” said Harish Bhat, the brand custodian of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $100-billion Tata group.

Bhat was the keynote speaker at the Calcutta Management Summit, the annual flagship programme of the Calcutta Management Association, held in association with The Telegraph at a city hotel.

Bhat, who joined Tata group in 1987 and has spent three decades in several group companies, delivered the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Memorial Oration at the summit.

He gave the example of some successful brands, both from his own group and outside, to drive home his point.

Among them was Tata Salt, launched in 1983 as the first packaged iodised salt of the country. He reminded how iodine deficiency had reached epic proportions in the 1980s, causing infant mortality, stunted growth and goitre.

Tata Salt became the most effective and simple way of iodine intake and addressed a major health issue.

Sanjay Kumar, chief operating officer of Air Asia India Picture by Gautam Bose