Policy advocacy CII has over 600 'Intellectual Groups' – councils, committees, task forces, and working groups among others – working at the national and regional levels, across industry sectors. These groups give shape to and articulate member concerns to government policymakers, regulators, think tanks etc. They work pro-actively with the government to formulate policies that would empower businesses. CII has been a catalyst of change in India's economic policy reforms. CII played a very important role during economic liberalisation in 1991 which knocked down the high walls of protection between Indian industry and the rest of the world. CII actively engages with central and state governments at various levels on issues facing Indian industry and society and recommends policies conducive to the development of India. To stimulate foreign investment into India and engage with overseas businesses, CII engages with overseas government leaders, businesses and industry associations. It has partnered on Indian government initiatives in other countries and organizes business meetings in India with regions and partner countries to expand Indian industry's overseas footprint.
Competitiveness CII has set up dedicated Centers of Excellence to enhance the competitiveness of Indian industry through training, consultancy, and research. These centres provide special services to the industry to enable firms to lower their costs and become more productive and competitive. Currently, there are 12 Centers of Excellence set up in the areas of Quality, Green Business, Manufacturing Excellence, Logistics, SMEs, Sustainable Development, Leadership, Food and Agriculture, and Water Institute, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Start-ups, Employment and Livelihood, and Skills.
Quality movement India started its quality movement journey in the early 1980s. Late Japanese Professor
Kaoru Ishikawa visited India in 1986, then heading JUSE (
Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers). During his visit to India, he recommended starting a national drive for quality by setting up an institutional arrangement. CII took the lead in this initiative and has since spearheaded the quality movement in India. In 1988, A
Total Quality Management Division (TQMD) was set up on Ishikawa's recommendation. The TQMD evolved into the CII Institute of Quality, which lead a quality movement that aimed to transform Indian businesses by offering them Total Quality Management skills such as Total Productive Maintenance,
Lean Management,
Six Sigma, Industrial and Legal Metrology, and Conformity Assessment and Standards. CII and the Export-Import
Bank of India jointly established the CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence in 1994. The Award is based on the internationally recognised EFQM Excellence Model. The CII Institute of quality has had a major impact on a large number of firms in India in terms of raising overall awareness regarding quality.
Environment CII initiated industry engagement in the area of environment and climate change in 1991, when the landmark Rio Summit was held. Since then, it has established four Centres of Excellence that work in the areas of climate change, air pollution, environment, sustainability, green building, energy, agriculture and water management.
Green buildings Going green way addresses ecological challenges and also makes good business sense. Keeping this principle in mind, the CII Green Business Centre (GBC) was launched in March 2000 during the visit of the then U.S. President
Bill Clinton to India. The Centre aims to promote ecologically sustainable business models in
green economy. The GBC was inaugurated by Dr.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the then President of India on 14 July 2004. The GBC headquarters at Hyderabad is India's first platinum rated green building which has been awarded by the
United States Green Building Council (USGBC), under the
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Since 2004, the GBC under the aegis of Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is spearheading the green movement in the country by offering services to various national and international stakeholders in the areas of green projects. In 2011, the centre launched the GreenCo Rating system which evaluates how green a company is and suggests the way forward on resource conservation as well as energy and environmental management. In 2015, GreenCo Rating was acknowledged in India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) document, submitted to
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as a
proactive voluntary action of Indian industry towards combating climate change. So far, 22 green building rating systems have been designed by GBC to address ecological challenges. IGBC Green Building Rating System has adopted over 5,400 green building projects amounting to over 7.5 billion sq. ft. GBC's various initiatives have facilitated the reduction of over 16 million tons of per year. The CII Centre at Indore offers the services of several centres of excellence at one place to provide comprehensive guidance to enterprises at the grassroots.
International partnership International activities include meeting with the Heads of State and Government, decision-makers, networking with counterpart organisations, multilateral and academic institutions, and other policy-making bodies. This endeavour helped to place the organisation on a high pedestal of relationship with the government, diplomatic missions, and international agencies. AIEI organised the very first international trade mission to Africa in 1975, covering Kenya, Zambia, Egypt, and Libya. In 1976, a Mission went to Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. These initiatives of AIEI helped explore business opportunities in African and middle-east markets. From 2013, CII has broadened its focus of work through more Regional and Country Committees like: Africa,
ASEAN + ANZ, East Europe,
GCC,
LAC, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea and Sri Lanka. CII's International work is backed by 9 overseas offices in Australia, China, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore,
UAE, UK, and the US that helps propagate important information pertaining to markets and joint venture possibilities to both Indian and global companies. CII was appointed as the B20 Secretariat by the Government of India to lead the B20 India process during India's G20 Presidency in 2023. It organized the successful B20 India Summit in August 2023 and brought out key thought pieces for the global business community.
Community development In the year 2000, CII set up the Indian Business Trust for HIV/AIDS to engage the industry in meeting the challenges of the deadly virus. This Trust helped formulate ISO 9002 workplace policy and protocols for industry. More than 2000 companies in India joined this campaign to provide a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, CII extended its support to a large number of affected people to mitigate the global crisis. Synergizing the efforts of Indian industry and engaging with the Government of India, CII reached out to various sections of the society, providing immediate relief and strategic long-term rehabilitation support. To tackle the unexpected and immense challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, CII formed a high-level task force to find possible solutions to issues faced by Indian industry. CII made immediate policy interventions and representations at both the state and central government levels for macroeconomic management, monetary measures, and ease of doing business. It came out with an impact assessment on industry and economy with an exit strategy to sustain continuity. CII is working on air pollution in North India, Anganwadi development, disaster management and relief and education, among other areas. It has also instituted the Women Exemplar Awards to recognize women leaders making a difference at the grassroots. ==Initiatives==