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The Indian Chamber of Commerce, or ICC as it is popularly known, is the premier body of business and industry in Eastern and North-Eastern India. The membership of the Chamber comprises several of the largest corporate groups in the country, with business operations all over the country and abroad. Set up by a group of pioneering industrialists led by Mr G D Birla, the Indian Chamber was closely associated with the Indian Freedom Movement, as the first organised voice of indigenous Indian Industry. Several of the distinguished industry leaders in India, such as Mr B M Birla, Sir Ardeshir Dalal, Sir Badridas Goenka, Mr S P Jain, Lala Karamchand Thapar, Mr Russi Mody, Mr Ashok Jain, have led the ICC as its President.
One of the most pro-active Chambers in the East, the ICC has been privileged to interact and host several of the esteemed Indian Presidents and Prime Ministers in the past.
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Membership Profile
The ICC constituents are mainly large manufacturing units with operations all over the country and abroad. There are around 500 large corporate bodies of India who form the backbone of the organization. Leading industrial promotion organizations, banks & financial institutions, as well as governmental organizations, are members of the ICC and lend a diversified membership base for the Chamber. This apart, the ICC Secretariat runs a number of important national level industry associations and chambers of commerce, with over 1200 companies, as members, around the country. Some of the important Industry Associations & Chambers of Commerce are the Indian Paint Association, the Tea Association of India, the Indian Foundry Association and the Indo-CIS Chamber of Commerce. The ICC also derives its strength and sustenance from the representative national character of its constituents. Another distinguishing feature of the ICC is that industrialists & owners of leading corporate entities in India are themselves members and are responsible for charting out the policies of the organization.
Indeed, the ICCs forte has always been its ability to move with the times, anticipate the needs of the future and suggest pro-active measures for furthering Indian business and industry. It has always been alive to the pulse of the environment in which it operates. Through the Chambers enlightened leadership, its powerful and progressive membership of important companies and its professional secretariat, the ICC has adapted to the changes in the global order and is moving ahead with confidence to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Our thrust areas include the following :
- 1. Economic Development of Eastern South Asia
The ICC has been at the forefront in advocating closer economic co-operation between Bangladesh, Bhutan, Eastern and North-Eastern India and Nepal, for we firmly believe that there exist phenomenal synergies which can significantly transform the lives of the people in this region. Towards this, the Chamber has, over the years, taken several initiatives to build a new foundation for cross border trade and investment. ICC was instrumental in organizing the first Private Sector Forum on South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Co-operation (SASEC) in November 2000, which brought together the business fraternity and experts of this region with multilateral agencies like the ADB and USAID to put in place a new dimension for growth in this region. SASEC is now a major project with the ADB and several cross border initiatives in Energy, Trade and Investment, Transport, Environment and Tourism are being discussed and implemented to optimise the synergies that exist amongst the four nations. With a combined population of over 450 million and a GDP of US $ 150 billion, this region is rich in resources like natural gas and hydro power, has tremendous agro and bio diversity, and a wide spectrum of minerals and other natural resources. Yet, this region is also home to some of the worlds poorest. It is ICCs firm conviction that greater regional co-operation will help in substantially enhancing the GDP growth in this region. A welcome development has been the focus the Government of India has now accorded to this region by enunciating a "Look East" Policy.
- 2. The North-East Initiative
As the foremost professional institution in Eastern and North-Eastern India, the ICC has launched a special initiative to develop the resource-rich North-East which has been one of the most deprived economically. ICC organised the first ever North-East Business Summit, with 8 Chief Ministers of the North-East in Mumbai with the Central Government Department of Development of North-East led by former Union Minister, Mr Arun Shourie. The Summit has led to several new economic opportunities for the North-East. The ICC has opened its offices in the North-East, and Advisory Cells have been formed with several of the State Governments to help facilitate business and investment.
- 3. The Young Leaders Forum
To channelize the energies, hopes and aspirations of the younger generation, the ICC launched the Young Leaders Forum, which today has grown to a strength of 200 young achievers in a span of one year. The ICC-YLF was set up to fulfil a long standing desire to involve the younger generation, the dynamic force of the nation today more actively in mainstream activities, be it social, political or economic spheres. The Young Leaders Forum hopes to channelize the strengths of the younger generation, the future leaders of the nation, to set a new paradigm for economic progress and development. The objective of the YLF is also to build confidence and leadership through greater networking with policy makers. It is the YLFs mission to bring hope to the next generation and give them the tools to meet the challenges of the New Age era.
- 4. The Environment Management Centre
The ICC set up the Environment Management Centre to promote environment management as a tool for building competitiveness in industry. The EMC now a self-sustaining consulting centre has very successful collaborations with USAID, USAEP, and has been acknowledged as a role model. It has now, in collaboration with USAID, also launched an Energy Efficiency Initiative, which addresses energy conservation issues as well as those related to climate change and reduction of greenhouse gases. The EMC, in its short span of operation has been able to gain considerable recognition. Together with the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, it also presents Environment Excellence Awards, which is a first-ever initiative in the country between an industry body and a regulatory authority. The EMC was adjudged the Best Unconventional Project from among 65 participants at the World Chambers Competition held in Quebec, Canada in September 2003.
- 5. Task Forces on Economic Policy
Apart from being a strong regional player, the ICC has been very successful in policy advocacy on national economic policy issues such as trade and investment, infrastructure, external trade, fiscal issues and financial restructuring. ICCs specialized task forces have proposed policy recommendations that have, on several occasions, been accepted by the Governments over the past 7 decades. The most recent campaign has been that of Labour Reforms, where most of ICCs recommendations have been accepted by the Second Labour Commission set up be the Government of India.
- 6. ICC Calcutta Foundation
ICC Calcutta Foundation was set up by the ICC to shape a new future for the region and its citizens. The ICC Calcutta Foundation now works with 50,000 school children in Calcutta through a Better Calcutta Contest which is held annually, to help promote better awareness of the environment that we live in and to shape a better society for the future. Most of the projects taken up by the Foundation are permanent in nature, and the strong participation of the children in these projects have been a major source of joy for us.
- 7. ICC Foundation for Social Development
As a responsible corporate entity, the ICC realizes that it must contribute to the society, through meaningful projects that make a difference. Towards this, the chamber is creating a new Trust - the ICC Foundation for Social Development. One of the first projects would be to facilitate the setting up of a Centre of Excellence in Paramedics, which will provide trained professionals for health care in rural areas.
- 8. ICC Lifetime Achievement Award
To commemorate Seventy years of the ICC, the Chamber instituted the ICC Lifetime Achievement Award. The Award personifies ICCs acknowledgment of the immense contribution by those eminent personalities who have enriched our lives in their respective fields of pursuit. In 1995, the ICC Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on the distinguished Sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, while Professor Amartya Sen, the 1998 Nobel Prize winning economist received the Award in 1997. Dr Jagdish Bhagwati, the renowned international economist received the award in 2001.
In ICC, we believe that there cannot be any other primary objective for the nation. Not because being competitive is important to make a global impact, but more because the efficiencies that will be built will transform the lives of the people through greater employment, higher per capita incomes and a better standard of living, be it through world class infrastructure, or quality health and educational facilities.
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