CII broadly services its members in the areas of:
- Policy and advocacy work
- Helping them enhance their competitiveness
- Facilitating members to building international linkages and go global
- Business development
- Enabling members connect and give back to society through our CSR initiatives
Policy Advocacy
CII gives a wide range of inputs to policy-makers at both the national and regional government levels on matters of interest to Indian industry. Although as a policy, CII does not intervene on behalf of individual members, if a sufficient group of members face similar problems or have certain views on policies, CII will take up the matter with the concerned government department.
Every year, CII presents the Central Government with its recommendations for the annual Budget. The Pre-Budget Memorandum includes views from the hundreds of sectoral industry associations which are affiliated to CII as well as different departments of CII. These are followed up with meetings with officials of the Ministry of Finance to explain the rationale for the specific sectoral views. The Central Government accords high importance to these notes and interactions.
CII also works closely with different ministries of the Government of India and state governments, highlighting the policies that will unleash entrepreneurship, liberalize the business environment and make it easier to do business.
See Policy
Enhancing Competitiveness through Conferences, Seminars and Trade Fairs
CII members have access to a constant stream of national and regional level conferences and seminars. The most high-profile of these events is The Partnership Summit, instituted to commemorate CII's centenary year in 1995 and a major international gathering since then. The Summit is held in different cities of India in February each year and hosts top world leaders, intellectuals and academics and businesspersons.
CII and the World Economic Forum, based in Switzerland, jointly host the annual India Economic Summit, an event that has become the barometer of India's reform process. The conference attracts hundreds of business leaders and entrepreneurs from across the world. Indian policy-makers give an overview of the economy and the progress on reforms. It is also an amazing networking platform.
CII's National Conference and AGM session also affords Indian business and policy-makers to interact closely and listen to each other's views. In the past, the NC has helped bring emerging economic issues to light and shape policy.
Apart from these, many annual national summits are held on key issues such as marketing and branding, tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, quality, international engagement and others. Regions also hold conferences and seminars on diverse matters pertaining to their area or operation. The International Division hosts visiting dignitaries from overseas, and helps international business missions to connect with Indian counterparts.
Conferences and seminars provide useful information on current trends, emerging issues, and solutions. They are high-profile networking events and help businesses to forge connections.
See
Activities for past and forthcoming events
Trade Fairs
CII organizes specialized and general trade fairs both in India and overseas, where customers and suppliers can come together and develop business relationships.
The International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF) is held every two years to showcase the best that India has to offer in engineering goods. This is a high-profile trade show, attracting hundreds of overseas firms and domestic companies engaged in engineering and technology. Special platforms for sectoral goods are held alongside as well as a show of products from SMEs.
The Auto Expo is held once in two years in partnership with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers and the Auto Component Manufacturers' Association. This brings new car designs and the latest in components both from large and SME firms to the market and is hugely popular.
Other trade shows of note are the Indian Mining Manufacturers Exhibition, Defense Expo, Pharma Summit, Chem Expo and others across a range of sectors. Many of these have substantial international participation.
See
Activities
International Linkages
CII has been one of the early and ardent champions of the globalization of Indian companies. In recent years, this has been a most successful aspect of CII's activities.
In order to enable the connectivity of Indian firms with overseas business, CII organizes visits of foreign business missions to India, visits of Indian business delegations overseas, meetings between high-level dignitaries, trade and exhibition missions, and participation at overseas trade shows. These are done in a coordinated and targeted manner in order to synchronize the business part of India with its political and diplomatic aims. Thus there is close coordination with the Ministries External Affairs and Commerce and Industry as well as the embassies overseas.
CII also organizes groups of business persons to attend specific overseas events and conferences. If there is sufficient interest from a particular sector towards a particular region, sector specific missions can be held.
Among the institutional linkages with different countries, the annual CEO's visits to USA, UK and Singapore have assumed significance for Indian industry. These missions have appointments at the highest levels of political leadership and close interactions with business and academic institutions in these countries. The Indian delegation serves to update other countries on the Indian economic and business situation and explain its point of view on different global issues.
See
International
Business Development
Since its inception, CII has been committed to the growth and promotion of Indian Industry. It has been helping businesses build competency, by providing an array of specialised services. CII Business Development Services (BDS) is the latest such initiative.
BDS is the focal point for information needed for business development i.e. capturing and increasing market shares, enhancing competitiveness, accessing new markets and increasing profitability.The CII BDS also connect people with ideas and companies of all sizes, to uncover and unleash opportunities for business growth. It creates and fosters a unique framework for collaboration that leverages the strength of its wide network of national and international offices, MoU partners and various industry affiliations to help members expand business opportunities and open new vistas.
See
Business Development Services
Corporate Social Responsibility
Recognizing that Indian corporates want to engage with society, CII assists in identifying social issues and activating partnerships of members with NGOs for adding to human development. Community efforts for corporates are stressed in many fields such as health, education, regional development, and others. It helps large companies develop health programs for workers, raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and public health. It sets out best practices in community work, and the benefit that can be derived from it to enable companies to develop their own programs.
For details, see
Social Development
Consultancy services
CII supplies an amazing range of consultancy services to its members. The broad sectors of its advisory services are Quality, Innovation, Energy Management and Conservation, Environmental Impact, Technology, and Globalization. The aim of these services is to enhance competitiveness of member companies, expand their productivity, facilitate upscaling, and enable them to deal with the emerging issues in management.
Quality � The Institute of Quality helps companies to learn best practices in Lean Manufacturing, Total Cost Management, productivity, Six Sigma, and others. It offers regular training modules across a range of Quality boosting techniques. For SMEs, it provides holistic support including all aspects of Quality Management.
Innovation � Facilitating global interactions, CII enables companies to think outside conventional norms in order to attain best-in-class status. It helps companies to access new markets, products, and designs that can boost their status and expand their frontiers.
Energy Management and Conservation � The Energy Management Division has been set up to counsel members on getting the maximum from the minimum. It helps companies meet international benchmarks of energy efficiency and provides training and consultancy on energy issues.
Environmental Impact � The Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development provides services to help members manage regulatory norms for environment. It offers advice on how to manage waste and mitigate environmental impact. CESD assists members in green business practices.
Technology � The Technology Division works with members to upgrade their technological efficiency and connect with the best in the world. It promotes incubators and networks between research and business. It assists SME with improving their levels of technology access.
See departments under Competitiveness and Centres of Excellence for individual services offered.
Training
CII special departments and Centres of Excellence offer a wide range of training to enable companies to upgrade their human resources and achieve higher productivity. Experts from different fields as well as CII's own professional and trained engineers and counselors provide training and information on the latest in management techniques. Training is also provided at the level of workers to enable them to manage new technologies.
Specialised training courses are conducted by the Institute of Quality for Total Quality Management. Quality Circles enable workers to match their skills against counterparts in different organizations. Missions of workers and executives are organized to Japan's famed quality institutions to learn of new practices.
The cluster development program of CII aims at holistic training of entrepreneurs and workers in the SME segment. This includes on-the-job training, counseling and mentoring in different activities such as TPM, TCM, lean manufacturing, energy management, waste efficiency and other parameters.
See departments under
Competitiveness and
Centres of Excellence for ongoing training programs.
Information services
CII provides its members with a range of informational material through a wide array of media. The publications section brings out the monthly magazine of CII activities 'Communique' which disseminates the ideas expressed at the many events hosted each month in each region. Regular reports are also brought out on a range of topics including Manufacturing, Innovation, Infrastructure, Green Business, Corporate Social Responsibility and many others. These provide the latest in policy and opportunities across sectors.
The CII Library has access to a network of resources, both printed and electronic. Members may access the library online and ask for material of interest.
CII maintains a helpline call center to assist members with any queries they may have.
The CII website is designed to keep members in touch with CII activities as well as with each other. It is a one-stop source for all dimensions of CII's work and offers immediate information on each department.
See
Resources