Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)was established in 1895. In the beginning, the name of the organization was Engineering and Iron Trades Association (EITA). EITA was set up with a goal to pressurize 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.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 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.

CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded over 112 years ago, it is India's premier business association, with a direct membership of over 7000 organizations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 362 national and regional sectoral associations.

A facilitator, CII catalyses change by working closely with government on policy issues, enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and expanding business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized 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 to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with over 120 NGOs across the country carry forward our initiatives in integrated and inclusive development, which include health, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development and water, to name a few.

With 60 offices in India, 8 overseas in Australia, Austria, China, France, Japan, Singapore, UK, USA and institutional partnerships with 271 counterpart organizations in 100 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.