New Delhi,
Rakesh Bharti Mittal, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and vice-chairman of Bharti Enterprises, on Thursday unveiled the annual agenda of the apex chamber which includes a key initiative on the industry doing business ethically and transparently.

As part of the ‘India RISE’ theme announced for 2018-19, the CII will launch voluntary corporate governance codes for large enterprises, small and medium enterprises and the financial sector. “Our industry must remain competitive, socially responsible and ethical to grow holistically,” Mittal said at his first press conference after assuming charge as CII president.

In his presentation, Mittal called for enhancing the scope of Goods and Services Tax (GST) by including fuel, real estate and alcohol and reducing the number of slabs. He said the industry should strategise for investments now. “India’s economic environment has begun to improve due to introduction of major reforms such as GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, fixed-term employment and so on. The industry must respond positively and undertake investments to sustain the recovery,” he added.

The new CII president said the CII has evolved a strong agenda for the industry under the ‘India RISE: Responsible. Inclusive. Sustainable. Entrepreneurial’ theme. The theme dovetails with the government’s priorities as per the reforms already completed. Comprehensive new initiatives under each of these sub-themes were outlined.

Uday Kotak, CII president-designate and vice-chairman and MD of Kotak Bank, said, “We are now seeing a dramatic pick-up of micro-India across all sectors. The transition from a good macro to a good micro economy has happened over the past few years. GST and IBC are game-changing reforms. Macro situation is getting tougher based on high oil prices and protectionism”.