Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-governmental, industry-led and industry-managed organisation whose main purpose is to influence government policy on economy, trade, commerce and industry. It also works for better education, health, infrastructure and environment.
History
The Madras Chamber of Commerce was established on 29 September 1836 by eight businessman, chief of whom were J. W. Dare of Parry & Co., W. S. Binny of Binny & Co. and J. A. Arbuthnot of Arbuthnot & Co., at the office of Binny & Co., a leading Indian business house with J. A. Arbuthnot as its first Chairman.
Other important companies in the chamber were Line & Co, Ouchterlony & Co, Barrow & Co, Fischer & Co, Guichard & Co, Seth Sam & Co, G. Sidloo Chetty and J. C. Tulloch.
The chamber got its first permanent venue in 1869 when a part of ''
The Madras Mail
''The Mail'', known as ''The Madras Mail'' till 1928, was an English-language daily evening newspaper published in the Madras Presidency (later Madras State, and then, Tamil Nadu) from 1868 to 1981. It was the first evening newspaper in India w ...
'' office was leased to them.
In 1924, the chamber moved to the offices of the
Mercantile Bank.
Right from the initial stages, native Indians did not join in large numbers in the chamber as in the case of the
Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, formerly Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce, is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organisation, whose primary function is to work for the development of industri ...
. Indian merchants chose to start their own organisations such as the Madras Trades Association.
The chamber got its first Indian President only in 1964.
In the early 1900s, the chamber played a pivotal role in the development of
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
.
Notes
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External links
Official website
Chambers of commerce in India
Organisations based in Tamil Nadu
Economy of Tamil Nadu
Economic history of Tamil Nadu
1836 establishments in India
Organizations established in 1836