MCCI
The Madras Chamber
MONTHLY REPORT SEPTEMBER 2021
The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry
MCCI
MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
The Madras Chamber
SCHEDULE OF VIRTUAL PROGRAMS - SEPTEMBER 2021
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Interac�ve Session on “Doing Business in Thailand Gateway to ASEAN"
Best Prac�ces for Safe Electrical Wiring and Selec�on of Cables
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185th Annual General Mee�ng
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Mental Wellness Conclave
185th Chamber Day
Expert Commi�ee Mee�ng
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MCCI
MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
The Madras Chamber
1
Interac�ve Session on “Doing Business in Thailand Gateway to ASEAN"
The Madras Chamber jointly with Thailand Board of Investment organized an Interac�ve Session on Doing Business in Thailand - Gateway to ASEAN" on Tuesday, 7th September 2021 . The objec�ve of this session was to provide knowledge on the exis�ng & emerging business, investment and partnership opportuni�es, schemes and incen�ves and a roadmap for bilateral rela�ons. Mr. Srivats Ram , President MCCI delivered the welcome address. Mr. Nanthapol Sudbanthad (Director Consul at The Thailand Board of Investment - The Royal Thai Consulate General, Mumbai) & Mr.Ni�rooge Phoneprasert (Consulate General at The Royal Thai Consulate, Chennai) presented the Investment Opportuni�es in Thailand. We had around 30 par�cipants in the session.
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Best Prac�ces for Safe Electrical Wiring and Selec�on of Cables
The Chamber under the auspices of the Energy Commi�ee organized a Presenta�on on "Best Prac�ces for Safe Electrical Wiring and Selec�on of Cables" on
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8th September 2021.
MCCI
MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
The Madras Chamber
Mr Balachandran Dharman, Director, R R Kabel Ltd. gave the welcome address and introduced the speaker Mr Gopal Rao, Advisor to RSP Design Consultants (India) Pvt Ltd. The session covered the safe prac�ces in wiring, selec�on criteria for cables & containment, good engineering and cable installa�on prac�ces, D.C. cabling and associated earthing in Residen�al, Commercial, Industrial and IT Applica�ons. The Presenta�on covered in depth the details rela�ng to the Code and Standards, Safety Requirements, Causes of Failures, Steps for Safe, Selec�on criteria for Cables, Installa�on of Cables, Tes�ng & Commissioning and Wiring and cabling for different load categories. We had more than 43 Par�cipants who a�ended the session and they were from manufacturing and IT domains.
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185th Annual General Mee�ng
The 185th AGM of the Chamber was held virtually. In the Public Session, Chief Guest and Special Guests were Thiru. Thangam Thennarasu, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, GoTN & Mr. Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO, Zoho Corpora�on. The Business Session was a�ended by 180+ par�cipants. Business Session Mr. Srivats Ram, President chaired the mee�ng and conducted the proceedings. Mr. Srivats Ram made a brief presenta�on of Chambers ac�vi�es for the last financial year for the benefit of the members. The following resolu�ons were passed in the Business Session. • Annual Report of the year 2020-2021 • Audited Statement of accounts of the year 2020-2021. • Rates of subscrip�on payable by different classes of members for the year 2021-2022. There is no revision and the exis�ng rates would con�nue as well as the vo�ng rights. • Appointment of the Auditors for the year 2021-2022. M/s RGN Price & Co. would con�nue as auditors for the current year 2020-2021. • The Members of the General Commi�ee for the year 2021-2022 and the Expert Commi�ees Chair and Co-Chair were announced.
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MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
MCCI
The Madras Chamber
Public Session Mr Srivats Ram, President MCCI gave the welcome address and made a brief Presenta�on of the ac�vi�es of MCCI. The Presenta�on covered the Genesis of MCCI, some past milestone, unique ini�a�ves such as MCCI Arbitra�on Media�on and Concilia�on centre (MAMC), Women Business Council (WBC) and some important studies the Chamber had embarked in last few years..He summed up all the chamber’s flagship ac�vi�es and other key ac�vi�es completed during pandemic and informed that the Chamber had organised more than 150 Webinars and Mee�ngs virtually, besides conduc�ng studies and bringing out policy papers for the benefit of the members last year. At the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chamber set up a Help Desk to provide real �me support, upda�ng the members on various Government No�fica�ons. During the Second Wave, with the overwhelming support of a few members, donated 72 Oxygen Concentrators to Omandurar Hospital and was acknowledged by the Hon’ble Minister for Health, Government of Tamil Nadu. Ms K Saraswathi Secretary General introduced the Chief Guest and Special Guest Thiru. Thangam Thennarasu, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, GoTN & Mr. Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO, Zoho Corpora�on. Mr. Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO, Zoho Corpora�on made a brief presenta�on highligh�ng the need to building R&D ecosystem .He said most of the technology know-how needed for industries is imported from foreign countries, and this needed to change for India to move to the next level and focus should be on developing R&D. He stated that Tamil Nadu can take pride for being one among the many most industrialized states in India. However, it ought to work for 10 �mes progress to a�ain the GDP per capita ranges of Taiwan/South Korea. TN has a per capita GDP of around $3000 per capita and a country like Taiwan is at $30,000.We have to move from only having factories to having the know-how behind those factories. He stated that we have to build our R&D capability for this and emphasized that we need our products to aspire to be the “greatest on the planet”. He requested state government to think about having par�cular R&D linked engineering awards to honour our chemical, mechanical and different engineers to mo�vate and encourage them. Thiru. Thangam Thennarasu, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, GoTN congratulated Chamber for its long history and appreciated the gamut of ac�vi�es chamber is doing for the interest of members and the State economy. In his address. he informed Tamil Nadu is a State with tremendous poten�al and aspira�on levels are high. While we have all the posi�ve factors in abundance, the State is yet to use its full poten�al to become a model State. In the first 100 days, on a single-minded focus, the virus has been contained and the vaccina�on drive has been a success. They have unveiled an upgraded website 2.0 for single window clearance that has inculcated 100 more services across 24 departments. They will add another 210 services under it by next March and ensure that single window is not just on paper but in delivery. This is a major breakthrough to ensure ease of doing business. He further informed that the state will soon come out with policies for exports, pharma and R & D to encourage growth in these segments.
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MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
MCCI
The Madras Chamber
He added that within the first sequence of investments introduced in by the new state authori�es, 35 new MoUs have been signed to en�ce greater than Rs 17,141 crores in new investments and generate employment to 55,000 folks. They have set the pla�orm to obtain the goal to make Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion financial system by 2030, he stated. He added “Our immediate priority is to improve the investment scenario in the State. There is a need to get more investments. More factories are needed to spur industrial ac�vity across the State to generate more employment opportuni�es for the people. We are interested in balanced and equitable industrial development across the State. We will concentrate on industrially backward districts. We plan to develop Naguneri into an industrial hub, as it will be beneficial to districts such as Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil and Thoothukudi”. He requested the Chamber to work closely with the government and to provide the support in the endeavor to make Tamil Nadu, one of the best States in South Asia. Followed by the Guests address we had Q&A session. Mr. T R Kesavan, Vice President proposed the formal vote of thanks.
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Mental Wellness Conclave
Working from home throughout the pandemic created a physical distance for many of us, but also brought us closer together through technology. With the uncertainty and constantly changing impact of Covid-19 on employees, the role of the human resources professional requires expansion into an even broader collec�on of responsibili�es, including an increased focus on behavioral health. In order to understand the new dynamism, the Chamber under the auspices of the HR & IR expert commi�ee organized a MENTAL WELLNESS CONCLAVE" on 18th September 2021 Ms K Sarawathi, Secretary General gave the welcome address. Mr Shyam Sundar, Chairman HR & IR Commi�ee set the context and introduced the speakers. He further informed that the Speakers of the Conclave are from Silver Oak Health, a highly innova�ve Bangalore based company that is being chosen by many clients in India as a preferred Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) partner for counselling and other engaging employee well-being programs.
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MCCI
MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
The Madras Chamber
Speakers for the conclave were •
Ms Diana , in-house counsellor , Silver Oak Health
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Ms Ti�r Dewan , Counselling Psychologist , Silver Oak Health
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Ms Joana Ann Mathews ,Wellness Coach ,Silver Oak Health
The conclave covered the below topics: 1.
Awareness on Mental health and addressing s�gma
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Understanding sources, symptoms and signs of stress
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How to be an effec�ve First Responder to employees
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Prac�ce of mindfulness and how to implement it in everyday situa�ons
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Strategies to cope with stress and Self-care
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Overview on DASS-21 & Scoring
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Tranquil Mindfulness
A�er the presenta�on by speakers, there was a Q and A Session. We had more than 40 par�cipants for the conclave and the feedback was good.
5 185th Chamber Day
Mr Srivats Ram, President, MCCI gave the welcome remarks and thanked all the dignitaries who joined the mee�ng virtually and introduced the Chief Guest Mr. Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman, The Sanmar Group. Mr. Vijay Sankar, Deputy Chairman, the Sanmar Group in his address covered Sanmar group’s Challenging �mes, his experience and the learning he had in last decade. He stated today the Sanmar Group has a revenue of around USD 1 Billion and an asset base over USD 1.5 Billion. As Deputy Chairman, he is responsible for the Group’s opera�onal management.
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MONTHLY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2021
MCCI
The Madras Chamber
He highlighted the chemicals business of this group has gone through some rough �mes, so much so that its flagship, Chemplast Sanmar, a producer of PVC and piping systems from the period 2008 to 2021 suffered the most. The group went through to the heavy investment phase for the company chiefly involving the se�ng up of a greenfield two lakh tonne PVC plant at Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. One of the main reasons for the losses was the huge capital cost on new plants. He stated that all the plants are running full now, but margins (of commodity PVC) are s�ll under pressure. Mr Sankar pointed out that in a large commodi�es business, once the heavy investment phase is over only, the cash flows would improve. The main learning, he emphasized was keeping up the integrity, being fair and convincing the government that made Sanmar being happy to be in Tamil Nadu. The next big expansion slated is in Egypt , this plant has been put up by group company, TCI Sanmar Chemicals. A�er spending nearly $1 billion, a part of the integrated facility was started in 2010. Caught up in Egypt’s Arab spring, the plant was damaged and remained shut for several months. Produc�on resumed and the plant is fully opera�onal now. Mr. Sankar said this plant services the high-demand Egyp�an and Turkish markets. Elabora�ng on the industry, Mr. Sankar said the margins in the PVC business are an issue, but they need to meet them. Larger capaci�es will allow them to absorb overheads be�er. He added that they need to source be�er and produce efficiently. Mr. Sankar, the fourth-gen scion of one of Tamil Nadu’s older business families stated in all their tough �mes people were their strength and they ensured to keep the reputa�on intact and live up to the principles and value systems and mo�o to think long term invest and innovate. He further added being a responsible company they have put up a Zero liquid discharge before government could bring it as a mandate and that they ensure to follow all required sustainability reports. He added that recently the group has gone for IPO and they have received an overwhelming response because of the sign of trust and confidence in the group’s Businesses and integrity. Ms K Saraswathi moderated the Q&A Session. There were ques�ons related to licensing, Hiring, Sustainable goals and Financial Management. There were more than 146+ par�cipants who a�ended the chamber day and the feedback was posi�ve.
Expert Commi�ee Mee�ngs 1. 2.
Direct Taxes-3rd September 2021 Other core Group EC mee�ngs to discuss and finalize about future programs were held
Other Mee�ngs Mee�ng with French Consul General on 30th September 2021
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