The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in West Bengal, India. It is the oldest chamber of commerce in India, and one of the oldest in Asia.

Established in 1853, finding its origin in 1833–34, it is the only such institution in India.Welcome to the Bengal Chamber Web Site at bengalchamber.com, accessed 5 January 2011

The organization has its headquarters at the former Royal Exchange in B. B. D. Bagh, Kolkata, which was once the residence of Lord William Bentinck, the first Governor-General of India.

Membership The members include corporations and industries of all sizes, professionals, divisions of large multinational corporations and service industry organizations. The corporate members are drawn largely from the sectors of agriculture, engineering, textiles, leather, fast-moving consumer goods and customer services, and are not confined to West Bengal and the Eastern Region, but are from all over India.

History The Bengal Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1853, replacing the former Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, which was merged into the new organization. At the outset, it had eighty-six members in Calcutta and eighteen others. Its objects includedThe Cyclopedia of India: biographical, historical, administrative, commercial, vol. 1 (1907), pp. 230-233 – To establish just and equitable principles in trade; To form a code or codes of practice to facilitate transaction of business; To maintain uniformity in rules, regulations and usages of trade; To communicate with Chambers of Commerce and other mercantile and public bodies throughout the world, and concert and promote measures for the protection of trade and traders.

On 30 November 1857, as a result of the Indian Mutiny, the Chamber appealed to the Government of India to send "a force of Europeans, either sailors or soldiers" to defend Akyab, as it considered the Arracan Battalion not to give enough protection. It was concerned about "the safety of the inhabitants and the security of the public treasury". The Secretary to the Government replied on 2 December, regretting that "there is no European force available at present."Accounts and papers of the House of Commons, 245

In 1876, at a time when silver was falling in value, chiefly due to the opening of new mines in the United States, the Bengal Chamber of Commerce was so concerned that it proposed that the Government of India should suspend the coining of silver. The Economist of 5 August 1876 reported that

The Chamber and its business were greatly disrupted by the partition of India and the partition of Bengal in 1947, with West Bengal becoming part of the new Dominion of India and East Bengal going to the Dominion of Pakistan. Despite this, changes in the Chamber were later described as "slow and incremental". New businesses joined the Chamber, and its first Indian President of the new era was elected in 1958. It developed from a gentlemen's club of able merchants whose chief concern was with trade into a modern organization with as much concern for industry as for trade. Whereas the officers and committee members had previously been the owners of capital, they were now more likely to be professional senior managers.Stanley A. Kochanek, Business and politics in India (University of California Press, 1974), pp. 119-121

Notable people James Lyle Mackay, later first Earl of Inchcape, was elected president of the Chamber in 1890, and Ernest Cable in 1903,Who's Who for 1926, p. 444 followed by Sir Apcar Alexander Apcar KCSI from 1904 to 1907. Archibald Birkmyre (1875–1935) was vice-president, and John Jardine Paterson was President in 1966.'Jardine Paterson, Sir John (Valentine)', in Who Was Who (A. & C. Black, 1920–2008), online edition by Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 5 January 2011

In 2004, O. P. Jindal (1930–2005) was awarded the Chamber's Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the Indian Steel Industry.O. P. JINDAL: THE MAN OF STEEL WHO COULD TALK TO MACHINES at jsw.in, accessed 6 January 2011

List of presidents

John N. Bullen: 1865 George Yule: 1878–1879 Sir Alexander Wilson: 1885 Henry Blois Hawkins Turner: 1886–1887 James Lyle Mackay, later first Earl of Inchcape: 1890 Sir Allan Arthur: 1894–95, 1896–97, part of 1898, 1899–1900 Sir Montagu Cornish Turner: 1898, 1901, 1902 Sir George Henry Sutherland: 1900–1901 Ernest Cable: 1903 Sir Apcar Alexander Apcar KCSI: 1904–1907 Sir Ruthven Grey Monteath: 1914 Sir Francis Hugh Stewart: 1915 Sir Edward Hugh Bray: 1917 Sir Walter Erskine Crum: 1919–20 Sir Alexander Robertson Murray: 1920 Sir Campbell Rhodes: 1922 Sir Willoughby Langer Carey: 1923 Sir William Crawford Currie: 1924–1925 Sir John William Anderson Bell: 1926–1927 Sir Basil Eden Garth Eddis: 1927–1928 Sir Edward Charles Benthall: 1932, 1936 Sir George Riddoch Campbell: 1935–1936, 1938–1939 Sir (John) Henry Richardson: 1940 Sir (Robert) Renwick Haddow: 1942–43, 1945–46 Sir John Henry Burder: 1943–1944 Sir Kenneth William Mealing: 1944–1945 Sir Harry Townend: 1946–1947 Sir Hugh Douglas Cumberbatch: 1947–1948 Sir Arthur Paul Benthall: 1948, 1950 Sir Anthony Joseph Elkins: 1949 Sir Albert Ridgeby Eliott Lockhart: 1951 Sir Charles Alexander Innes: 1952–1953 Ernest John Pakes (1899–1988): 1953–1954 Sir George Mason MacKinlay: 1954–1955 Sir (George) Alexander Sim: 1955–1956 Sir Owain Trevor Jenkins: 1956–1957 Sir Walter Harold Strachan Michelmore: 1957 Sir John Douglas Keith Brown: 1958–1960 Sir Henry Morton Leech Williams: 1960 Sir Nicol Stenhouse: 1961–1962 Sir Hugh MacKay-Tallack: 1962–1963 Sir Alec Drummond Ogilvie: 1964–1965 Sir James Harvey Kincaid Stewart Lindsay: 1965 Sir John Jardine Paterson: 1966-1967 Sir Cyril Alfred Pitts: 1967–1968 Sir (John) Michael Parsons: 1968–1970 Mr. A. K. Sen: 1970-1971 Mr. Bhaskar Mitter: 1971-1972 Mr. A. N. Haksar: 1972-1973 Mr. A.W.B. Hayward: 1973-1974 Mr.D.P. Goenka: 1974-1975 Mr. A. L Mudaliar: 1975-1976 Mr. J. Sengupta: 1976-1978 Mr.P.Z. Baldik: 1978-1979 Mr. S. K. Mehera: 1979-1980 Mr.H.D. Wahi: 1980-1981 Mr. R. S. Mamak: 1981-1982 Mr. S. P. Acharya: 1982-1983 Mr.T.D. Sinha: 1983-1984 Mr. A. Mazumdar: 1984-1985 Mr. S. D. Singh: 1985-1986 Mr. R. S. Sikand: 1986-1987 Mr. P. K. Gupta: 1987-1988 Mr. Samir Ghosh: 1988-1989 Mr. K. S. B. Sanyal: 1989-1990 Dr. Abhijit Sen: 1990-1991 Mr. Mumtaz Ahmad: 1991-1992 Mr. Biji K. Kurien: 1992-1993 Mr. K. C. Mehra: 1993-1994 Mr. P. B. Ghosh: 1994-1995 Mr. P. K. Dutt: 1995-1996 Mr. H. P. Barooah: 1996-1997 Mr. S. S. Prasad: 1997-1998 Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee: 1998-1999 Mr. B. D. Bose: 1999-2000 Mr. S. B. Ganguly: 2000-2001 Mr.S.K. Dhall: 2001-2002 Mr. Sumit Mazumder: 2002-2003 Mr. Biswadip Gupta: 2003-2004 Mr. A. Lahiri: 2004-2005 Mr. Aloke Mookherjea: 2005-2006 Mr. S. Radhakrishnan: 2006-2008 Mr. Anup Singh: 2008-2009 Mr. Sandipan Chakravortty: 2009-2011 Mr. Harsh K Jha: 2011-2012 Mr. Kallol Datta: 2012-2014 Dr. Alok Roy: 2014-2015 Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta: 2015-2016 Mr. Sutanu Ghosh: 2016-2017 Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh: 2017-2018 Mr. Indrajit Sen: 2018-2019 Mr. B B Chatterjee: 2019-2020 Mr. Deb A Mukherjee: 2020-2021 Mr. Abraham Stephanos: 2021–Present

External links bengalchamber.com, official web site

Notes