Annual Report 2017 - 18 India@75: Inclusive. Ahead. Responsible Annual Report 2017 - 18 India@75: Inclusive. Ahead. Responsible 2 The CII theme for the year ‘India@75: Inclusive. Ahead. Responsible’ received high attention through the year. Employment, education and healthcare emerged as key pillars for the inclusive growth agenda. In particular, women parity was an issue we actioned strongly. CII opened its fourth Model Career Center, held many job fairs to bring new opportunities for youth and expanded engagement in skills and training. I am happy that CII reaches out to a million youth every year through its various educational and training activities. A competitive Indian industry requires a facilitative investment climate. We celebrated India’s jump in the World Bank ‘Doing Business’ rankings by as many as 30 places in a single year. CII worked closely with Central and State Governments through the year on ease of MS SHOBANA KAMINENI doing business. The reduction in corporate tax rate to President, CII 25% for enterprises with turnover below INR 250 crore was a great step in line with our submissions. Taking India Ahead means adapting to the new technology changes that are gathering momentum. CII has built a strong focus on Start-ups and entrepreneurship, aiming to partner with young people through the Startupreneurs Forum and other initiatives. This year, we also set up the Society of Indian Defence President’s Manufacturers to converge policy and action on this Review sunrise sector. We had the chance to work with the Government on some of its major initiatives. Textiles India and World Looking Back Food India had the participation of Prime Minister. A world record was set for the preparation of Khichdi, This was no ordinary year for CII and demanded a high showing that India’s traditional foods can be of interest degree of agility and adaptation to a constantly changing to consumers everywhere! environment. The long-awaited Goods and Services Tax was introduced from July 1, making India a single market Under the rubric of Responsible Industry, our work for the first time. Alongside, the spate of significant in the areas of climate change, corporate governance reform policies continued. Within this, GDP growth rate and CSR and community development was consolidated moderated to 6.6% from 7.1% in 2016-17, but equally, and expanded. The CII Foundation is doing remarkable there were strong signs of investment revival towards work in women empowerment, disaster management, the end of FY18. and the Clean India campaign. I am particularly passionate about the Power of Parity project, a new The Government’s commitment to ensuring smooth initiative which I led personally to increase women’s implementation of GST was commendable and it participation in the workforce. responded quickly to CII’s submissions. We also provided industry inputs on macroeconomic management I had the opportunity to represent CII in interactions and sectoral policies during our meetings with the with visiting Heads of States including the Presidents of Prime Minister, Finance Minister and other ministers Russia, Turkey, Korea and Switzerland, Prime Ministers of and officials. With 450 issues being taken up across Israel and Italy, and the German Chancellor. Our overseas infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, R&D, visits were most productive as well, helping Indian innovation and services, CII’s policy work is appreciated industry deepen and strengthen its engagement with the by the Government. world at a time of rapid changes in globalization. This CII Annual Report 2017-18 3 year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos was particularly successful as the PM participated for the first time and the CII delegation and activities gained a high profile. Above all, this has been a personally satisfying year for me in terms of engaging with Members. Traveling around the country, I had the chance to share the ideas and concerns of many Members and the CII platform indeed represents a strong forum for highlighting Member needs. I would like to leave you with three ideas. One, industry associations need to come together to action important issues like taxation, company law etc. ASCON with its >120 associations and members is a great platform for this purpose. Two, global supply chains are changing and technologies are rapidly advancing. India needs a new industrial policy, more attention to R&D, and new business models to lead in the new world. Finally, risks such as geopolitical issues, climate change, cyber-attacks, and non-communicable diseases need to be addressed and industry must constantly stay ahead of the curve. Within these priorities, the role of CII remains even more relevant and critical, and I am sure it will go on to expand. I thank Rakesh for ably sharing the numerous activities of CII with me and Uday for his support through the year. The Regional Chairpersons took up innovative projects across a range of areas, adding new dimensions to CII’s work. I deeply appreciate the participation of chairpersons of all Councils and Committees and other bodies in CII. All office-bearers together contributed to a dynamic, eventful and productive year. A very warm and sincere thanks to all of you! CII Annual Report 2017-18 4 In agriculture and food processing, a huge boost was imparted through the mega event of World Food India which brought in a new policy for doubling farmers’ income through targeted linkages between agriculture and industry. Extensive infrastructure development through mega food parks, cold storage and logistics is planned. Lower tax rates for Farmer Producer Organisations will encourage diversification to value-added crops. CII provided key inputs and also contributed to building international presence for the sector. With the rural economy a strong base for growth, it is important that it continues to receive high attention. The manufacturing sector is now beginning to show signs of revival. The Government is working on a new industrial Mr RAKESH BHARTI MITTAL policy that will embrace the changes in technology President Designate, CII and globalization to make India a global leader. It was gratifying that the Government took up procurement policies and transportation issues in line with CII recommendations during the year. In CII, we have set up the National Council for Smart Manufacturing and divisions for advanced materials and technical textiles to take forward industry engagement in the high- technology areas. President The ASCON forum remained a strong agent for tracking manufacturing in the country. Defence manufacturing Designate’s was an area of growth, encouraging CII to initiate the Society for Indian Defence Manufacturers. Report The base of the manufacturing pyramid is made up of millions of small enterprises. The MSME sector Looking Ahead remained high on the CII agenda, including issues such as financing, technology adaptation, ease of doing business and competitiveness. The Government’s Over the last few years, the role of CII in India’s decisions to redefine MSME as per turnover and to bring development has greatly expanded and it has been down corporate income tax rate for smaller enterprises a privilege to contribute to our mission to drive growth. converged with CII recommendations and were very This year was particularly productive in terms of policy encouraging. CII’s range of initiatives for MSME and advocacy and sectoral activities, reinforcing CII’s position its dedicated services are partnering the sector’s as a national development institution. growth across the country. Under the cluster training programme, almost 4000 small enterprises have built up As investment revival continued to be a concern, their productivity through shared learning. CII presented a comprehensive agenda for growth, touching upon the areas of macroeconomic With the Government determined to accelerate management as well as implementational issues in infrastructure construction, CII took up several issues GST, addressing non-performing assets and driving on strengthening public private partnerships and investments, employment and exports. Several resolving stranded projects. On energy, the International major policy recommendations were accepted Solar Alliance initiated by the Government, where CII is by the Government including the extension closely engaged, became a reality, while we continued of fixed term employment to all sectors, incentives to work on sustainability and climate change issues. for creation of new jobs, and key areas of GST. CII Annual Report 2017-18 5 Sectors such as education, healthcare, retail, tourism, and media and entertainment are emerging as big job creators. CII’s engagement in the services sector continues to expand, including through building services exports. The Government’s move to expand R&D in higher education institutes and to develop more research scholars is in line with CII recommendations and so is the new National Health Protection Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, which promises to be a game-changer for healthcare access. We are particularly privileged to be associated with NITI Aayog’s programme for addressing non-communicable diseases. CII continued to expand its activities for skill development and job creation, reaching out to lakhs of youth through different formats. As the global economy improves, India’s exports are growing and CII’s international engagement stayed at a hectic pace. This year’s World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos was particularly relevant with the presence of the Indian Prime Minister for the first time in over 20 years. CII’s delegation was one of the largest ever, receiving outstanding response. Our international alliances for innovation and R&D are gathering pace with new programmes being undertaken with Canada, Korea, Israel and Spain. While hectic, the year was immensely inspiring for CII, taking our policy advocacy and proactive agenda for industry to a new level. I look forward to keeping up the pace and to the support of each CII member in the year to come.