View source for Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry
| image = 
| former name = Calcutta Chamber of Commerce
| formation = {{start date and age|1853}} 
| language = [[English language|English]]
| purpose = [[Policy advocacy]] 
| type = [[Non-governmental organization|Non-governmental]] [[trade association]]
| status = [[Foundation (nonprofit)|Foundation]]
| headquarters = [[Kolkata]], [[India]]
| region_served = South Asia
| leader_title = Key People
| leader_name = Mr. B.B Chatterjee, President; Mr. Subhodip Ghosh, Director General
| motto = Aiding Business
| website = {{URL|www.bengalchamber.com}}
}}
The ''' Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry''' is a [[Non-governmental organization|non-governmental]] [[trade association]] and [[advocacy group]] based in [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. It is the oldest [[chamber of commerce]] in India, and one of the oldest in Asia.

Established in 1853, finding its origin in 1833–34, it is the only such institution in India.<ref name=bengalchamber>[http://www.bengalchamber.com/index.html Welcome to the Bengal Chamber Web Site] at bengalchamber.com, accessed 5 January 2011</ref>

The organization has its headquarters at the former Royal Exchange in [[B. B. D. Bagh]], [[Kolkata]], which was once the residence of [[Lord William Bentinck]], the first [[Governor-General of India]].

==Membership==
The members include [[corporation]]s and industries of all sizes, [[professional]]s, divisions of large [[multinational corporation]]s and [[Tertiary sector of the economy|service industry]] organizations. The corporate members are drawn largely from the sectors of [[agriculture]], [[engineering]], [[textiles]], [[leather]], [[fast-moving consumer goods]] and [[customer service]]s, and are not confined to West Bengal and the [[East India|Eastern Region]], but are from all over India.<ref name=bengalchamber/>

==History==
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1853, replacing the former Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, which was merged into the new organization. At the outset, it had eighty-six members in Calcutta and eighteen others. Its objects included<ref>''The Cyclopedia of India: biographical, historical, administrative, commercial'', vol. 1 (1907), pp. 230-233</ref>  –
*To establish just and equitable principles in trade;
*To form a code or codes of practice to facilitate transaction of business;
*To maintain uniformity in rules, regulations and usages of trade;
*To communicate with Chambers of Commerce and other mercantile and public bodies throughout the world, and concert and promote measures for the protection of trade and traders.

On 30 November 1857, as a result of the [[Indian Mutiny]], the Chamber appealed to the Government of India to send "a force of Europeans, either sailors or soldiers" to defend [[Akyab]], as it considered the [[Arracan Battalion]] not to give enough protection. It was concerned about "the safety of the inhabitants and the security of the public treasury". The Secretary to the Government replied on 2 December, regretting that "there is no European force available at present."<ref>''Accounts and papers of the House of Commons'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=XaxbAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA245#v=onepage&q&f=false 245]</ref>

In 1876, at a time when [[silver]] was falling in value, chiefly due to the opening of new mines in the [[United States]], the Bengal Chamber of Commerce was so concerned that it proposed that the Government of India should suspend the coining of [[silver]]. ''[[The Economist]]'' of 5 August 1876 reported that {{quote|The Chamber of Commerce of Bengal have resolved "that it is expedient for the government to suspend clause 19 of Act 23 of 1870, which makes it obligatory on the Indian Mint to receive all silver tendered for coinage... and that during such suspension it be unlawful to import coined [[rupee]]s.<ref>[[Walter Bagehot]], ''The collected works of Walter Bagehot'' vol. 4, p.  568</ref>}}

The Chamber and its business were greatly disrupted by the [[partition of India]] and the [[Partition of Bengal (1947)|partition of Bengal]] in 1947, with [[West Bengal]] becoming part of the new [[Dominion of India]] and [[East Bengal]] going to the [[Dominion of Pakistan]]. Despite this, changes in the Chamber were later described as "slow and incremental". New businesses joined the Chamber, and its first Indian President of the new era was elected in 1958. It developed from a [[gentlemen's club]] of able merchants whose chief concern was with trade into a modern organization with as much concern for industry as for trade. Whereas the officers and committee members had previously been the [[capitalism|owners of capital]], they were now more likely to be professional [[Senior management|senior managers]].<ref>Stanley A. Kochanek, ''Business and politics in India'' (University of California Press, 1974), [https://books.google.com/books?id=0v0KFAAQCLkC&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q&f=false pp. 119-121]</ref>

==Notable people==
[[James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape|James Lyle Mackay]], later first [[Earl of Inchcape]], was elected president of the Chamber in 1890, and [[Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable|Ernest Cable]] in 1903,<ref>''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' for 1926, p. 444</ref> followed by Sir [[Apcar Alexander Apcar]] [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] from 1904 to 1907. [[Archibald Birkmyre]] (1875–1935) was vice-president, and [[John Jardine Paterson]] was President in 1966.<ref>'Jardine Paterson, Sir John (Valentine)', in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who Was Who]]'' (A. & C. Black, 1920–2008), [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U179513, online edition] by [[Oxford University Press]], December 2007, accessed 5 January 2011</ref>

In 2004, [[O. P. Jindal]] (1930–2005) was awarded the Chamber's Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the Indian Steel Industry.<ref>[http://www.jsw.in/organization/op_jindal.shtml O. P. JINDAL: THE MAN OF STEEL WHO COULD TALK TO MACHINES] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219173148/http://jsw.in/organization/op_jindal.shtml |date=2010-12-19 }} at jsw.in, accessed 6 January 2011</ref>

==List of presidents==
[[File:Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with H.D. Cumberbatch on the occasion of the former's address to the Associated Chamber of Commerce, Calcutta.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with then President of the chamber H.D. Cumberbatch in January 1948.]]
*John N. Bullen: 1865
*Sir Alexander Wilson (1843–1907): 1885
*Henry Blois Hawkins Turner (1839–1909): 1886–1887
*[[James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape|James Lyle Mackay]], later first [[Earl of Inchcape]], 1890
*Sir Allan Arthur (1857–1923): 1894–95, 1896–97, part of 1898, 1899–1900
*Sir Montagu Cornish Turner (1853–1934): 1898, 1901, 1902
*Sir George Henry Sutherland (1866–1937): 1900–1901
*[[Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable|Ernest Cable]], 1903
*Sir [[Apcar Alexander Apcar]] [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]], 1904 to 1907
*Sir Ruthven Grey Monteath (1864–1949): 1914
*Sir Francis Hugh Stewart (1869–1921): 1915
*Sir Edward Hugh Bray (1874–1950): 1917
*Sir Walter Erskine Crum (1874–1923): 1919–20
*Sir [[Alexander Robertson Murray]] (1872–1956): 1920
*Sir Campbell Rhodes (1874–1941): 1922
*Sir Willoughby Langer Carey (1875–1933): 1923
*Sir William Crawford Currie (1884–1961): 1924–1925
*Sir John William Anderson Bell (1873–1938): 1926–1927
*Sir [[Basil Eden Garth Eddis]] (1881–1971): 1927–1928
*Sir Edward Charles Benthall (1893–1961): 1932 and 1936
*Sir George Riddoch Campbell (1887–1965): 1935–36 and 1938–39
*Sir (John) Henry Richardson (1889–1980): 1940
*Sir (Robert) Renwick Haddow (1891–1946): 1942–43 and 1945–46
*Sir John Henry Burder (1900–1988): 1943–1944
*Sir Kenneth William Mealing (1895–1968): 1944–1945
*Sir Harry Townend (1891–1976): 1946–1947
*Sir Hugh Douglas Cumberbatch (1897–1951): 1947–1948
*Sir Arthur Paul Benthall (1902–1992): 1948 and 1950
*Sir Anthony Joseph Elkins (1904–1978): 1949
*Sir Albert Ridgeby Foster (1907–1973):
*Sir Charles Alexander Innes (1902–1963): 1952–1953
*Ernest John Pakes (1899–1988): 1953–1954
*Sir George Mason MacKinlay (1906–1973): 1954–1955
*Sir (George) Alexander Sim (1905–1980): 1955–1956
*Sir Owain Trevor Jenkins (1907–1996): 1956–1957
*Sir Walter Harold Strachan Michelmore (1908–1988): 1957
*Sir John Douglas Keith Brown (1913–2000): 1958–1960
*Sir Henry Morton Leech Williams (1913–1989): 1960
*Sir Nicol Stenhouse (1911–1998): 1961–1962
*Sir Hugh MacKay-Tallack (1912–1989): 1962–1963
*Sir Alec Drummond Ogilvie (1913–1997): 1964–1965
*Sir James Harvey Kincaid Stewart Lindsay (1915–2007): 1965
*[[John Jardine Paterson|Sir John Jardine Paterson]] (1920–2000): 1966-1967
*Sir Cyril Alfred Pitts (1916–2009): 1967–1968
*Sir (John) Michael Parsons (1915–2009): 1968–1970
*Mr. A. K. Sen: 1970-1971
*Mr. Bhaskar Mitter: 1971-1972
*Mr. A. N. Haksar: 1972-1973
*Mr. A.W.B. Hayward: 1973-1974
*Mr.D.P. Goenka: 1974-1975
*Mr. A. L Mudaliar: 1975-1976
*Mr.J. Sengupta: 1976-1978
*Mr.P.Z. Baldik: 1978-1979
*Mr. S. K. Mehera: 1979-1980
*Mr.H.D. Wahi: 1980-1981
*Mr. R. S. Mamak: 1981-1982
*Mr. S. P. Acharya: 1982-1983
*Mr.T.D. Sinha: 1983-1984
*Mr. A. Mazumdar: 1984-1985
*Mr. S. D. Singh: 1985-1986
*Mr. R. S. Sikand: 1986-1987
*Mr. P. K. Gupta: 1987-1988
*Mr. Samir Ghosh: 1988-1989
*Mr. K. S. B. Sanyal: 1989-1990
*Dr. Abhijit Sen: 1990-1991
*Mr. Mumtaz Ahmad: 1991-1992
*Mr. Biji K. Kurien: 1992-1993
*Mr. K. C. Mehra: 1993-1994
*Mr. P. B. Ghosh: 1994-1995
*Mr. P. K. Dutt: 1995-1996
*Mr. H. P. Barooah: 1996-1997
*Mr. S. S. Prasad: 1997-1998
*Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee: 1998-1999
*Mr. B. D. Bose: 1999-2000
*Mr. S. B. Ganguly: 2000-2001
*Mr.S.K. Dhall: 2001-2002
*Mr. Sumit Mazumder: 2002-2003
*Mr. Biswadip Gupta: 2003-2004
*Mr. A. Lahiri: 2004-2005
*Mr. Aloke Mookherjea: 2005-2006
*Mr. S. Radhakrishnan: 2006-2008
*Mr. Anup Singh: 2008-2009
*Mr. Sandipan Chakravortty: 2009-2011
*Mr. Harsh K Jha: 2011-2012
*Mr. Kallol Datta: 2012-2014
*Dr. Alok Roy: 2014-2015
*Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta: 2015-2016
*Mr. Sutanu Ghosh: 2016-2017
*Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh: 2017-2018
*Mr. Indrajit Sen: 2018-2019
*Mr. B B Chatterjee: 2019-2020
*Mr. Deb A Mukherjee: 2020–Present

==Notable corporate members==
The present members of the Chamber include [[Allahabad Bank]], [[Alstom|Alstom Projects India Ltd.]], [[American Reprographics Company]], [[Andrew Yule and Company Ltd.]], [[Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata]], [[Areva|AREVA T&D India Limited]], [[Balmer & Lawrie Investments|Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd.]], [[Bajaj Allianz General Insurance]], [[Deutsche Babcock|Babcock Borsig Ltd.]], [[Balmer Lawrie]], [[Berger Paints India Ltd]], [[Bhushan Steel|Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd.]], [[Biecco Lawrie]], [[Birla Tyres]], [[The BOC Group|BOC India Ltd.]], [[Britannia Industries|Britannia Industries Ltd.]], Calcutta Business School, [[Castrol India|Castrol India Ltd.]], [[CESC Limited]], [[Purnendu Chatterjee|Chatterjee Management Services Private Ltd.]], [[Coal India Limited]], [[Delhi Business School]]'s Kolkata Campus, [[Descon Limited]], [[Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College, Durgapur]], [[Dunlop India]], [[National Institute of Technology, Durgapur]], [[Eastern Railway Zone (India)|Eastern Railway]], [[EIH Limited]], [[Eveready Industries India]], [[Exide Industries]], [[Fortis Healthcare Limited]], [[Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers]], [[George Telegraph Group]], [[Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co. Ltd]], [[Greaves Cotton]], 
G.S. Marketing Associates,
[[Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit|GTZ (India) Private Limited]], [[Haldia|Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.]], [[Hawkins Cookers Limited]], [[Hindalco Industries|Hindalco Industries Ltd.]], [[Hindustan Petroleum Corporation]], [[Hindustan Unilever|Hindustan Unilever Ltd.]], [[Housing Development Finance Corporation]], [[Howrah|Howrah Mills]], [[Indian Institute of Management Calcutta]], [[Hyatt Regency|Hyatt Regency Kolkata]], [[ICFAI Business School]], [[Internet Content Rating Association]], [[Chambal Fertilisers|India Steamship]], [[Indian Oil Corporation]], and [[International Combustion|International Combustion (India) Ltd.]]<ref>[http://www.bengalchamber.com/memberslist.html Members list] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101023252/http://www.bengalchamber.com/memberslist.html |date=1 January 2011 }} at bengalchamber.com, accessed 5 January 2011</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.bengalchamber.com/index.html bengalchamber.com], official web site

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry}}
[[Category:1853 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Trade associations based in India]]
[[Category:Chambers of commerce in India]]
[[Category:Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises]]
[[Category:Non-profit organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1853]]