Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Development and Foreign Relations (Chamber India) is an international chamber registered under section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India.^[1] It is headquartered in New Delhi, India and has trade facilitation chapters in 24 Indian cities and 22 countries around the world.^[2]

Chamber India engages business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape favorable business environment and ease of doing business.^[3] It is the most active chamber in India focusing on Sustainable Development Goals.^[4] Today, the chamber has emerged as one of the most prominent and active business associations through participation and contribution to prominent international forums like the G20, World Chambers Congress, etc.^[5][6][7][8]

It was inaugurated by Mr. Amitabh Kant, then CEO of NITI Aayog in the presence of 47 Ambassadors and High Commissioners with participation from 58 countries.^[9] NITI Aayog is the apex public policy think tank of the Government of India.

Chamber India is led by Mr. Abhinav Balyan, who has been serving as its President and CEO since April 2021. Mr. Balyan has been serving the domains of international relations, government affairs and human resources since almost 2 decades.^[10]

In June 2023, the chamber established India’s first Centre for Global South at the Vanijya Bhawan, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi.^[11] The centre was inaugurated by Mr. Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, with participation from Mr. Som Parkash, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr. V. Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Kapil Patil, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Mr. Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa of India, Mr. O.P. Dhankar, National Secretary of BJP and diplomats from 54 countries.^{[12][13][14][15]}

The Global South Centre has been established with the aim of increasing India’s exports and enhancing cooperation with the Global South nations.^[16] Under this initiative, chamber has planned delegations to eight Global South destinations to explore opportunities for Indian business with a view to increasing the country's exports.^[17]

Chamber India has been working closely with various Global South countries to enhance business and investment opportunities. In a meeting with the Ambassador of Ethiopia to India, the chamber expressed its readiness to jointly work with the Embassy and promote Ethiopian business and investment opportunities by conducting a series of seminars in India.^[18]

Through its consortium partner – Educator Extraordinaire Limited, the chamber has established one of the world’s largest residential vocational training institutes for rural women.^[19][20] The centre has been serving rural tribal women from 14 Aspirational Districts of India. Educator Extraordinaire Limited was ranked as India’s No.1 agency for rural skill development by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India for mid category projects on Kaushal Pragati portal. In June 2022, then CEO of NITI Aayog Mr. Amitabh Kant recognized the exemplary work done by President Mr. Abhinav Balyan in the Aspirational Districts.

In December 2023, Chamber India started the Chamber Connect initiative to engage with the chambers and investment organisations of different countries to increase trade and commerce activities for its members. There have been 18 meetings with various chambers till March 2024.^[21][22]

During his mission to India in October 2023, Chamber India hosted Mr. Jean Todt, United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy of Road Safety in a meeting with Mr. Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa of India.^[23] During the mission he also met with Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, Mr. Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited, Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Mr. Hervé Delphin, Ambassador of EU to India and Bhutan, Mr. Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, Ms. Andrea Wojnar, Resident Representative of UNFPA India and a few other stakeholders.^[23]

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the India-Vietnam diplomatic relations, Chamber India co-organised Vietnam India Business Meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Government of Vietnam and other trade organisations at the Embassy of Vietnam in India.^[24]

At the invitation of the Government of Niger, In December 2022, Chamber India participated in a roundtable in Paris with H.E. Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger, to discuss financing for the country’s Economic and Social Development Plan (PDES) 2022-2026.^[25] The roundtable was also attended by various multilateral organisations including the United Nations, World Bank, African Development Bank, among others.

Chamber India launched the Startup Connect initiative in 2023, to commemorate the milestone of 100,000 registered startups by the Department of Promotion of Internal Trade, Government of India.^[26] Under this initiative, the chamber extended its Global Startup Membership to 100+ startups.^[27]

1. Art and Culture Council – led by Prof. Rita Ganguly, Padma Shri recipient^[28]
2. Intellectual Property Rights council – led by Prof. Ganesh Hingmire, recipient of two consecutive National Intellectual Property Award by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry^[29][30]
3. Progressive Farming Council – led by Mr. Kanwal Singh Chauhan, Padma Shri recipient^[31]
4. Automobile Sector Council – led by Mr. Prasad Krishnan, Vice President, TVS Motor Company^[32]
5. Ayurveda Council – led by Dr. Saurabh Sharma, Medical Chief, Maharishi Ayurveda Hospital^[33]

Chamber India boasts a diverse membership of leading multinational companies, public sector enterprises, MSMEs and startups. Some of its members include Maruti Suzuki, TVS Motor Company, Kuraray, Vedanta, DBS, VFS Global, MEIL, UPL, Arvind Limited, SECI, etc.^[34]

• Invest in India with Chamber India, June 2022.
• Collaborative Copy: Chamber India-Global South Centre, June 2023.^[35]

Various services offered by Chamber India to its members:^[36]

1. Business delegations
2. Networking
3. Latest information
4. Expansion
5. Guidance and leadership
6. Advocacy
7. Representation and participation in international events
8. In-house incubation centre