BCIC Welcomes Setting of Deadline To Fix Potholes In Bangalore City

Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) today welcomed the decision of the Hon’ble Chief Minister Mr. D V Sadananda Gowda for setting January 15, 2012, as the deadline for BBMP to fix all potholes in Bangalore City.


Dr. Vinod Nowal, President, BCIC said: “We express our sincerest thanks to CM for setting a clear deadline of January 15 to repair and fix potholes since PWD and BBMP have already missed the earlier deadline of December 31, 2011. This has been a long standing demand of the citizens of Bangalore which the Chamber has been expressing with the State Government.”

Mr Harish H V, Vice President said: “It is important to have good quality roads and build them such that they last for long. We need to recognize that the cost to the citizens and the government of bad roads, in terms of accidents, injuries, higher fuel cost, time and environmental, is huge and substantially higher than that the cost of building good roads”.

The Chamber on its part urges BBMP to complete the task and fulfill the Chief Minister’s decision speedily and effectively and then follow it up with repairing and relaying all roads that need repair with a clear deadline in coordinated manner with the other agencies so that we are not raising the same issue in a few months once monsoon is back. The Chamber also expressed its happiness over the State Government according permission to develop 166.91 km of State Highways at a cost of Rs 59.91 crore under State Highways Development Project for which steps would be initiated to start the work soon. The Chamber feels that this will augur well for the overall infrastructure development of the State.

Sourced From: Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC)

BCIC urges the government not to disturb the UIDAI project

Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) have been given to understand that the Government of India needs to accord sanction to the UIDAI project to enable it to continue the project.  We also note that the Parliamentary Committee and the Home Ministry have raised concerns over the project.  In this backdrop, BCIC urges the UPA Government to immediately accord the Cabinet sanction to continue the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project beyond the 200 million enrollments so as to enable benefits of various schemes reach out to the vulnerable sections of the society.

Dr. Vinod Nowal, President, BCIC urged the UPA government not to stall the UIDAI project as close to 165 million citizens have already been enrolled. He said: “Since Aadhaar Project is getting very popular and over 60,000 operators have been certified and one Lakh support staff are deployed on the UID process, at this stage, the process of enrollment should not be pulled out or stalled.”

Aadhaar issued by UIDAI identify a resident and ensure that instant verification of the identity which can transform the entire delivery of various social welfare programmes, subsidies etc. to the right audience. BCIC feels that the “savings on this account would be immense and will help already stressed financial resources to reach the desired segment of population in need of welfare benefits.”

Mr. M Lakshminarayan, Senior Vice President, BCIC believes that the unique enrollment process initiated through UIDAI concept is really laudable and it should continue in the overall interest of the nation as it will augment the upliftment of BPL strata which is still left out of the inclusive growth.

While Mr. H V Harish, Vice President, BCIC said: “Millions of Indian residents, especially the marginalized, lack nationally valid and reliable proof of identification. The inability to prove identity is one of the biggest barriers preventing the poor from accessing benefits and subsidies, especially in full utilization of the benefits  of NREGA and the new Food Security Bill. There is no nationally accepted, verifiable identity system that exists in the country which can be used by residents and services delivery agencies with ease and confidence.”

In view of the multiple benefits that would accrue to the millions of population, particularly in the BPL strata, and the professionalism with which the UID project is currently being managed, BCIC strongly advocates that UIDAI should continue its services, uninterruptedly.  Alternatively , it is recommended that  a suitable alternative be devised which benefits from the current progress achieved and investments made by the operators and others till date. BCIC also urges that  the Government takes a quick  call on this crucial issue and not let uncertainty linger.


Sourced From: Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC)

CCI's Outreach Programme on "Combination Regulations"

The Competition Commission of India organized an interactive meeting in association with Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) and ICSI-Bangalore Chapter on 26th April, 2011 in Bangalore. The meeting was Chaired by Dr. Geeta Gouri, a member of the Commission which was attended by a large number of industry representatives, legal firms connected with the subject and representatives from the Company Secretaries of India and other accounting Institutes.


Mr. Shekar Viswanathan, President, BCIC in his Welcome Address appealed to the Commission to ensure Competition and prevent monopolization. He hoped that the Competition Commission comes out with a suitable legislation that helps in promoting, regulating and sustaining fair competition in the market.

The Central Government has issued certain notifications on March 4 making the provisions of the Competition Act relating to combinations enforceable w.e.f. 1st June 2011. While issuing such notifications, some of the concerns of the industry were addressed by way of increasing the prescribed threshold limits by 50% and providing exemptions to smaller transactions from the applicability of the provisions of Act. The Industry had openly shared some of their concerns relating to the process of implementation, which is regulated by the Commission by way of notifying Regulations. Though the Commission had posted Draft Regulations on its website seeking comments, to widen the scope of the consultative process further, the Commission has taken steps to organize such consultative meetings in major cities. Industry has welcomed this proactive step of the Commission.

The officers of the Commission took note of the comments/suggestions made by various stakeholders and the Member present assured the participants that all their suggestions will be considered with open mind in the next meeting of the Commission scheduled on 29th May. It was further assured that the Commission would examine only a few such complex cases in details which could have appreciable adverse effect on competition and the rest will disposed off very quickly since the Commission.

Mr. Ganapathi Bhat, Chairman, ICSI-Bangalore Chapter proposed a hearty vote of thanks.