Confederation of Indian Industry

Confederation of Indian Industry logo

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organisation, seeking to play a proactive role in India’s development process. The organisation works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes. The confederation is headquartered in New Delhi. B. Muthuraman is the President and Chandrajit Banerjee is the Director General of the confederation.

Function

CII aims to usher change by working closely with government on policy issues, enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and expanding business opportunities for industry through a range of specialised services and global linkages. It also provides a platform for sectoral consensus building and networking. Major emphasis is laid on projecting a positive image of business, assisting industry identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. CII undertakes research, interacts with key government officials and disseminates information through publications, seminars and events.

With 64 offices in India, 9 overseas in Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, UK, USA and institutional partnerships with 223 counterpart organisations in 100 countries, CII aims to serve as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.

History

CII was established in 1895. The initial partners were five engineering firms, all members of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the beginning, the name of the organisation was Engineering and Iron Trades Association (EITA). EITA was set up with a goal to pressurise the British government to place government orders for iron and steel and engineering goods with companies based in India (the practice then was to place government orders with firms based in UK). The name was subsequently changed to Indian Engineering Association (IEA), Engineering Association of India (EAI), Association of Indian Engineering Industry (AIEI), Confederation of Engineering Industry (CEI) and finally to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 1992.

Membership

It is India's premier business association, with a direct membership of over 8100 organisations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 400 national and regional sectoral associations.

Library

Central Library & Information Centre of CII headquarters has prime objective of supporting information needs of its members and staff. Library's main objective is to acquire, maintain and enhance access to business information available in print and non-print formats relevant to the research needs of users.

Library has collection on various segments of Indian industry. The collection comprises mainly books, journals, CDs, audio-visuals, photographs and grey documents. Resources include CII publications and conference proceedings, national & international statistics, national & international directories and databases, exhibitor catalogues, corporate laws, and other documents such as Working papers, Govt. reports, annual reports of Companies, Ministries and Govt. Departments. Digital collection includes documents such as proceedings, presentations, statistical databases, industrial directories, digital books, annual reports and online databases.

Services offered are reference and referral, document delivery, current awareness and database search. Library caters to the information needs of all those interested in business and industry: Entrepreneurs, Government officials, students, researchers, librarians, analysts, investors, and journalists. Customised information is also provided on request.

Trade Fair

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organises trade fairs to promote Indian industry. Some of the flagship trade fairs are: IETF, Auto Expo, Agrotech, IMME, etc. Auto Expo is the largest auto show in Asia. CII has been organizing a biannual trade fair called IETF.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) held the first Indian Engineering Trade Fair in 1975 to showcase the emerging capabilities of the Indian engineering industry. At a time when Indian industry was still at a fledgling stage, the event served to stress its growing capabilities. Today, under its new nomenclature of International Engineering and Technology Fair, IETF, with large international participation, covers a wide range of industry sectors under its main umbrella of engineering and technology. Held every two years, the fair has expanded to become among the largest such events in the Asian region.

A wide range of products are exhibited at the show, highlighting the best of quality and standards across a spectrum of industry sectors. Large as well as small companies take part, with a special platform for small and medium enterprises. Each IETF includes focus industry sectors for displaying new and emerging trends across sub sectors. In the past, focus industry pavilions have included environmental and green products, water and sanitation machinery, safety and security equipment, etc.

A number of countries, both developed and developing, turn out in strength to take part in the IETF, setting up dedicated country pavilions to showcase the diverse strengths and capabilities of their manufacturing industries. Each edition of the IETF since 1985 has spotlighted a special partner country as the largest overseas participant, exhibiting products, technologies, and investment opportunities. The event is an occasion for the Partner Country to engage in bilateral economic partnership with India and delegations are usually led by a top minister. Cultural events too are hosted by the Partner Country to give a lighter side to the more serious business of doing business. Over the years, Partner Countries have included Germany, Japan, South Africa, Italy and many others.

IETF attracts large numbers of top representatives from industry, government, and media from India and overseas. IETF 2007 saw the participation of nearly 55,000 business visitors including government and business delegates from 24 countries. The IETF offers a one-stop platform to industry members to disseminate information about themselves, learn about others, and interact with other businesses to expand their global presence. Many concrete business deals are finalized during the days of the exhibition. While business networking is the highlight of the show, the general public too displays keen interest in the exhibits and turns out in large numbers to learn more about other countries and different goods.

The Partner Country concept was introduced with Italy as the first Partner Country at IETF 1985. Since then, Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy(twice), Japan(three times), Korea, Spain, China, and South Africa (twice) have participated as Partner Countries at the IETF till date.

IETF 2009 – the 18th edition of the event attracted participation of around 200 exhibitors from 17 countries with South Africa as Partner Country for the second time. South Africa had showcased an impressive Pavilion with 70 South African Companies from sectors ranging from Aerospace, Marine, Defense, Steel, Electro technical, Manufacturing Technologies, Food & Beverages, Wines. Japan being the “Guest country” at 18th IETF, also been the Partner country at 17th IETF, was primarily focusing on the New and Non - Renewable sources of energy with around 50 exhibitors in an exclusive pavilion. Sector Specific concurrent shows focusing on Manufacturing Technologies, Energy & Environment, Robotics & Automation, Safety & Security were held during IETF 2009.

IETF 2011 – the 19th edition of International Engineering & Technology Fair – was held from 10 to 12 February 2011 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India covering an area of 25,000 sqmtrs, IETF 2011 hosted around 250 exhibitors from 11 countries – China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Slovak Republic, South Africa and United Arab Emirates (UAVE) – displaying the latest products and technologies on offer.

CII-Yi

Young Indians (Yi) is an integral part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier business association, formed in the year 2002, with an objective of creating a platform for young Indians to realize the dream of a developed nation. Yi has over 1200 direct members in 25 city chapters. Yi engages another 12,000 members through its Farmer Nets, Student Nets and Corporate chapters. The Yi membership includes young progressive Indians between the age group of 25 & 40 years. The members include entrepreneurs, professionals and progressive achievers from different walks of life. ‘To become the voice of young Indians globally’ being the vision of Yi, it provides a platform for young Indians to participate in and contribute by becoming an integral part of the Indian growth story. Yi works effectively for promoting leadership skills for the development of its members through the learning programs; the development and engagement of students in schools and colleges through its 59 Student Net platforms which engage more than 4000 students from various educational institutions across India; and two Farmers Net platform that has enrolled 8500 young & progressive farmers from all across the country, providing them with real time agricultural inputs and know-how. Yi has successfully conducted campaigns and developed successful projects across the focus areas of primary education, environment, primary healthcare and employability, contributing positively to its surrounding eco-system and the nation. Through its initiatives like Akshara, Yi has impacted 15000 students across 50 centers, skilled & placed 1300 youth under the aegis of its Yi labs employability program. Under the healthcare initiative, over 170000 children have been dewormed in addition to the many health awareness programs that have been conducted, across the community in different cities.

Yi organises an annual national summit with themes relevant to India and its youth. The national summits include sessions and interactions with some of the finest and eminent personalities from various fields, across India and the world. 6 editions of the National Summit have been organised to

Centres of Excellence

One of the USPs of CII has been the uncanny ability of its membership to perceive global trends, build technical capabilities and then spread the trend among the industry members. The centres of Excellence were set up specifically for this purpose. The first of the centres to be established was the Institute of Quality in Bangalore. The CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre was established in Hyderabad to bring in focus on "Green Business" - Green Buildings, Energy Efficiency,Environment & incubation. The CII ITC Centre for Excellence for Sustainable development in Delhi focuses on promoting Tripple bottom line concept. Institute for Logistics, Chennai, Naroji Godrej Centre of Excellence on corporate governance Mumbai, L M Thapar Centre for Competitiveness, Chandigadh for Cluster initiatives, Water Institute Jaipur are the other Centres of Excellence. The technical expertise available with the centres, coupled with dedicated industry membership makes the institution an ideal medium to reach out to the industry

See also

• CII [1] The youngest and yet one of the most dynamic,CII-Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence for Leadership serves as a facilitator for development of leadership and thus promote economic and industrial growth in the Eastern Region specifically and the neighboring countries in South and South East Asia. The CII-Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence for Leadership works (under the able guidance of its Head, Subrata Niyogi, the Deputy Director General and ex-head, Eastern Region) in close cooperation with other Centres of Excellence of CII and will establish partnerships with similar organizations / institutions globally for maximum effectiveness. Apart from the corporate sector, the CII-Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence for Leadership also proposes to organise special programmes for Government officials including managers of State Undertakings and Institutions to meet their specific needs. Other focus groups would include trade union leadership, shop-floor supervisory staff, teachers, trainers etc.

External links

• CII New Web Site
• http://www.cii-leadership.in/index.php