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CII organised the 18th ICT East 2019

CII organised a two-day conference on digitalisation at ITC Sonar on 10-11 September, 2019. The conference deliberated on important topics like strategy for leveraging digital technologies, execution of digital strategy to garner profit, digital technology for cost optimization, smart & sustainable manufacturing through digitalisation and reaping profit through data.

V. V. Rajasekhar, Chairman, CII Eastern Region ICTE Subcommittee & Group Chief Information Officer, ITC Limited in his welcome address stated that digitisation has brought about a redefinition in terms of access to technology and this has led to a “true democratisation of businesses”.  Dipankar Chakrabarti, Co-Chairman, CII Eastern Region ICTE Sub-Committee & Executive Director, Technology Optimization Lead, PricewaterhouseCoopers India Pvt Ltd opined that the IT industry needs to work closely with the government to actualise digitalisation.

Debashis Sen, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Information Technology and Electronics, Government of West Bengal, Chairman and Managing Director, WBHIDCO and Chairman, Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority delivered the keynote address. He stated, “The Government of West Bengal is keen on taking forward digitisation for a sustainable development of the state.”  

BCC&i AGM 2019

The AGM opened with a talk on the leadership role being played by the chamber in promoting business. M. Damodaran, former Chairman of the Security Exchange Board of India addressed the meeting. Speaking on the recent government decision on drastic reduction of corporate taxes, he stated that the country is no longer in gloom but in a state of boom. Talking on the merger of public sector banks, he stated it’s more important to understand the cultural commonality between the banks and need to put it together at the right time and for right reasons. Dr. Amit Mitra, Minister-in-Charge Department of Finance, West Bengal spoke about the downturn of the economy and linked it to structural changes rather than cyclical changes.

MCCI organised the India Economic Forum 2019

“Powering India’s $5 Trillion Growth Agenda” was the theme of the third MCCI India Economic Forum 2019. The inaugural session was addressed by Special Guest Sunil Kanoria, Vice Chairman, SREI Infrastructure Finance, Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh, Director, Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata, Sameer Kant Jha, Senior Economist and AGM, State Bank of India, Economic Research Department and Dr. Pranab Kumar Das, Associate Professor of Economics, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.

The Chief Guest for the event was Sadhan Pande, Minister-in-Charge, Consumer Affairs, Self Help Group and Self Employment, Government of West Bengal. In his speech, he expressed concerns over unneeded harassment often meted out by tax men.

In his address, Sunil Kanoria said that India has entered into a rapid development phase since 1991 - breaking the Hindu rate of growth achieved earlier - and this growth was faster during the period between 1998-99 and 2010-11. He noted that private investors have invested around $3 billion in the development of infrastructure in India during this period.

Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh opined that in India, GST is centralised but not rationalised. Sameer Kant Jha felt that a sharp technological shift is changing the geo-political climate and influencing the global pattern. Dr. Pranab Kumar Das emphasised on the meaningful utilisation of demographic dividend to propel growth.