Establishment in Pre-Independence Era

Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA) was founded in the year 1927 by the great visionary and industrialist Seth Walchand Hirachand with the mission to unite and organize business class, then emerging in the pre-independent India. Since then and particularly since the formation of the State of Maharashtra the Chamber has been playing a pivotal role in supplementing and augmenting the efforts of Government for the economic development of the State and advancement of its people. MACCIA has continued to render multi-faceted services to the Trade, Commerce and Industry, during which Maharashtra has emerged as industrially most advanced state in India and Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra acknowledged as the commercial capital of India. Incidentally, MACCIA is the only Chamber in Maharashtra, which has deep-roots in all the districts of Maharashtra, and thus it virtually functions as the State Apex Chamber. The Chamber has more than 3500 members with a strong presence in all the districts of Maharashtra.

Galaxy Of Past Presidents

After its establishment in 1927, the Chamber had the fortune to be nurtured by stalwarts and doyens of Indian industry like late Seth Walchand Hirachand, Babasaheb Dahanukar, Shantanurao Kirloskar, B. D. Garware, Seth Lalchand Hirachand, Ramkrishna Bajaj, Shri. V. D. Chowgule, Shri.Deokisanji Sarda, Shri.Subhash Dandekar and a galaxy of respectable men from Trade, Commerce and Industry.

Affiliation To Central Organizations

The Chamber is affiliated to national level organizations of Trade and Industry such as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), New Delhi, International Chamber of Commerce - National Committee, New Delhi, Indian Council of Arbitration, New Delhi, All India Organization of Employers, New Delhi.

Special Interest In Developing Regions And Development Projects

Maharashtra Chamber has evinced special interest in the development of certain regions like Konkan, Marathwada and Vidarbha. The Chamber's efforts in bringing the ambitious Thal Fertilizer Project near Alibag, its long and untiring efforts for Konkan Railway, Uran Bridge, and Alumina Project, holding the State Mineral Conference and Conference on Flood Prevention in Konkan region are well known.

Instrumental in Setting up of Important Organizations

The Chamber is instrumental in founding and initially nurturing important organizations like Maharashtra Economic Development Council (MEDC) and the Federation of Co-operative Industrial Estates. The Chamber has also helped in promoting the co-operative sector in areas such as Merchant Banking, Mini Industrial Estates and Co-operative Industrial Estates throughout the State of Maharashtra, especially in the rural parts.

Trade Delegations

MACCIA regularly receives trade delegations from various countries of the world and has signed MOUs with a few of them for facilitating mutual trade. The Chamber's office bearers individually and in delegations visit foreign countries to promote trade, industry, agriculture and commerce. In recent past, the Chamber team had lead delegations to China, UAE, and visited Sri Lanka and Singapore. MACCIA also organized one to one business meetings with Consul Generals of various countries.

International & National Events

MACCIA had organized an International Industrial Exhibition "MAHA INDEX 2003" jointly with the Government of Maharashtra with a view to promote the industrial growth of the State. The Business & Industrial community from Maharashtra wholeheartedly supported the Exhibition and three concurrent National Seminars. The MAHA INDEX 2003 was awarded a Certificate of Special Recognition in the category of Best marketing and Communication Project by the International Chamber of Commerce at the World Chambers' Competition 2003 organized at Quebec City, Canada from 15th to17th September 2003.

MACCIA and the Rice Exporters' Association of Pakistan (REAP) had jointly organized the SAARC Rice Expo 2004 at the World Trade Centre, Mumbai, to mark the year 2004 as the International Year of Rice, as declared by the United Nations' General Assembly and supported by its agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at Rome, Italy. To coincide with the Rice Exhibition we had organized an International Conference on Rice where many experts from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh presented their papers on various subjects.

The National Conference on Urban Co-operative Banks held in July 2005 by the Chamber at Mumbai, saw participation of 477 Urban Bank representatives and it marked a historic success. As a follow up to this National Conference next year MACCIA had organized a one day Conference on Urban Co-operative Banks in Pune

MACCIA had organized an International Exhibition "Krishi 2007" in association with Media Exhibitors in Nashik to promote and showcase Indian Agriculture. Wine Buyer Sellers Meet organized by MACCIA was instrumental in establishing direct contact between leading local and international growers and leading exporters of grape, manufacturers of wine, buying agents/houses, processors, end-users etc.

Two-Day Conference on "Opportunities & Challenges in Horticulture / Floriculture in Maharashtra" covered various topics such as Horticulture & Floriculture as an Industry, Prosperity through Horticulture & Floriculture, Finance, Investment & Marketing - Opportunities & Challenges, Research, Extension Services & Quality Assurance, Supply Chain Management & Logistics, and Role of Technology Institutions & Organizations.

Export Import Training Programme

MACCIA organizes One week Export Import Training Programme where professionals related to Export Import Industry imparts knowledge and information to working professionals and students who wants to enter this growing field. MACCIA has also started with Advance Export Import Training Programme mainly targeting export import professionals who wants to acquire and grasp advanced knowledge, information and developments in this field.

Convention (Sneha Sammelan)

It is a tradition of MACCIA to organize every year Convention (Sneha Sammelan) of Members of Parliament from Maharashtra at the residence of a Union Minister at New Delhi. The Chamber was fortunate enough to organise get-togethers at the residence of Late Shri Y. B. Chavan, S. B. Chavan, Madhu Dandavate, Shivraj Patil, Mohan Dharia, Vasant Sathe, Late V. N. Gadgil, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Shri Manohar Joshi and other dignitaries. The purpose of holding the Sneha Sammelan is to provide a meaningful platform for industrial community to interact with the policy makers in a friendly informal atmosphere. These Sneha Sammelans are always well attended by the Members of Parliament, Union Ministers from Maharashtra, IAS officers of Maharashtra Cadre, representatives of print and electronic media and other celebrities.

Lecture Series: Walchand Memorial Lecture

The Chamber organizes Walchand Memorial Lecture every year in the memory of its founder President Late Seth Walchand Hirachand, at which luminaries from different fields are invited to address the gathering. A few dignitaries, who have delivered Walchand Memorial Lecture in the past, can be mentioned here: Late Shri S. K. Patil, Shri Ashok Mehta, Shri L. K. Zha, Late Shri Morarjibhai, Late Shri Ramkrishna Bajaj, Justice Yashwantrao Chandrachud, Shri Arun Shourie, Shri N. A. Palkhiwala, Justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari, Prof. Madhu Dandavate, Shri Yashwant Sinha, Dr. Vasantrao Gowarikar, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy and recently Shri Kamal Nath, Hon'ble Union Minister for Commerce & Industry delivering a lecture on "India's Foreign Trade & WTO" in 2006.

Awards

With a view to promote entrepreneurship and encourage entrepreneurs from diverse field in diverse fields like imports / exports and to recognize excellent achievements in the field of import substitutions, exports, entrepreneurship development in rural areas, the Chamber has instituted a number of awards such as the M. L. Dahanukar Entrepreneur Award for excellent contribution to industry, agriculture, research and import substitution; the Dadasaheb Rawal New Entrepreneur Award for outstanding achievements in the field of import substitution, rural industrialization and agro- industrial sector; the Dr. C. D. Deshmukh Memorial Award to a person making excellent contribution in the field of Economics / Banking Practice - Education - Literature - Journalism; the Raosaheb Gogte Award to a person doing superlative work in any field; the Dr. Vasant Palkar Export Award to a small-scale entrepreneur for excellent achievements in exports. The Chamber also gives special awards to Women Entrepreneurs, such as Shirin and Jamshed Guzder Export Award for significant achievements in exports; Late Shri Padmakar Dhamdhere Award for Best Woman Trader, Baburao Dhanvate Award and Sushilabai Oak Award for outstanding achievements by women entrepreneurs.

Representation On Govt. Bodies

MACCIA has representations on various Central, State, Statutory & Public Bodies like Central Excise Advisory Committee, State Advisory Board for Food & Drug Administration, Konkan Railway Divisional Advisory Committee, State VAT Advisory Committee.