IE’s association with the CII is more than four decades old. Then known as the Association of Indian Engineering Industry, AIEI was exclusively focusing on the engineering industry. AIEI evolved to Confederation of Engineering Industry (CEI) in 1986 and later to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 1992. How quickly it emerged as the leader!
In the 1980s N Subramanian, then Head – AIEI’s Chennai office, was active in involving the young and educated CEOs of the fast-growing automobile and auto component industry. In quick time under the leadership of Tarun Das at Delhi and succession of brilliant regional directors, CII emerged as the strongest industry association.
In the South, CII ensured the active involvement of highly qualified and articulate young leaders. For the first time, one saw the President of CII working like a full -fledged CEO! In his tenure as President during 1987-88 Suresh Krishna, Sundram Fastners’ CEO, travelled 4 lakh km and addressed 305 meetings on CEI’s work. It was a double whammy: CII got the benefit of the expertise free. For the business leaders, CII provided an opportunity to interact with policymakers in Delhi. In quick time with globalisation, this also offered opportunities for interactions with global leaders in politics and business.
The vast contacts of the young leaders and the increase in the reach and clout of the CII helped to present national and global leaders. I remember Venu Srinivasan, organising an international conference in manufacturing presenting experts drawn from across the globe for sharing their experiences. I recall Director – production of Maruti Suzuki, A Shinohara commenting on the dependency syndrome of the Indian manager. “Do we need an assistant to keep our room clean? It does not require a high educational qualification for cleaning!” he said.
THE PARTNERSHIP SUMMITS
Chennai also had its share of brilliant administrators at CII. Many like Ajay Khanna and Chandrajit Banerjee rose to senior positions in the national capital. I remember the Partnership Summit of CII held in 1998 in collaboration with the government headed by M Karunanidhi. The Nehru stadium was converted into a large auditorium with hundreds of delegates from abroad and India participating.
In the South, Andhra’s Chandrababu Naidu made the most use of CII. He conducted dozens of programmes in association with CII and the Partnership Summit was held thrice in a row. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have also utilised the expertise of CII in conducting Global Investor Meets.
After Tarun Das, Chandrajit Banerjee and his team have been expanding the utility of CII through newer initiatives. The concerns extend to issues of environment, sustainability, inclusiveness, skill development, empowerment of women, agriculture reforms, etc. CII ensures its leaders continuing to contribute to expanding the utility of this industry body. Its structured unitary system is more popular than federal affiliation types of other industry associations.
