Achievements

2009Sri Laxmi Narain Agarwal, President MCUP, was nominated to the State VAT Committee in 2009. His contribution to the cause of trade and industry is memorable.

1981The Chamber's efforts in April 1981 to set up a body to take up the grievances of industries with the Government resulted in the setting up of Udyog Bandhu.

1976The Chamber submitted its recommendations for the abolition of octroi and the rationalisation of taxes to the Indirect Taxation Enquiry Committee led by Sri L. K. Jha on 30 July 1976, and views were submitted for the review of the Companies Act and the MRTP Act 1969, for the removal of anomalies, to the Sachar Committee set up by the Government of India in 1977.

1975The Chamber kept on representing to the Government the under-utilisation of natural resources for power generation and the suffering of industry due to shortage of power. His Excellency Dr. M. Channa Reddy said, during the inaugural session of the 43rd Annual General Meeting on 23rd September 1975, that he saw no reason why these resources must not be used for the prosperity of the State.

Dr. Sampurnanand, then Chief Minister of UP, accorded the Chamber the unique privilege of addressing a meeting of MPs from UP, which he had convened to sponsor industries in UP with central assistance, in both the public sector and the private sector.

1968The Chamber undertook a special study of the working of the VAT system in the EEC countries, at considerable expense, as long back as 1968.

1965The setting up of the Board of Apprenticeship Training, to impart practical training to the technically educated, was done after the Chamber's delegation led by Sir Padampat Singhania pleaded its necessity before the task force on technical education headed by Dr. Trigun Sen on 16.4.1965.

1950sIn the allotment and transport of coal for UP as a whole between 1950 and 1960, the Chamber played a prominent role alongside the State Government.

1951The Chamber led evidence before the Indian Company Law Reforms Committee in 1951 and advocated the need for free and unfettered transfer of shares by a company to their rightful owners, and the consequent registration of such transfers by the company concerned. Certain valuable suggestions were offered for incorporation in the Indian Companies Act, with a view to simplifying its administration and rendering its provisions clear and workable. Most of the suggestions made by the Chamber were found incorporated in the new Companies Act, which was passed by Parliament and is now in force.

The Chamber's contribution in reshaping the UP Sales Tax Act was acknowledged by the then Chief Minister of U.P., Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, and the Chamber earned the appreciation of the UP Government for this service. So far, almost all representations made on this subject by the Chamber have evoked a favourable response from the UP Government.

1953The Finance Minister, UP invited the Chamber in 1953 to work up details, including legislative measures, for the establishment and operation of a finance corporation to aid small scale and cottage industries. After a good deal of deliberation over the issue, and after considering the problem in all its aspects, tentative proposals were formulated by the Chamber regarding the formation, constitution and administration of the corporation and forwarded to the Government of UP. The Government took the decisive step during 1954 in respect of the establishment of the UP Financial Corporation.

1953The Council of the Chamber for the year 1953 submitted a two hundred page comprehensive memorandum containing general observations on the fundamental issues involved in the enquiry conducted by the Taxation Enquiry Commission. Later, a Central ad hoc body consisting of representatives of different commercial organisations, such as chambers of commerce, trade associations and employers' organisations functioning in the State, was constituted with the Chamber's secretariat as the secretariat of this ad hoc body. This body selected Sir Padampat Singhania as the Chairman, leader and spokesman for UP, and adopted the Chamber's memorandum as fully representing the views of all sections of business and industry in UP. Oral evidence was led before the Commission in April 1954 on various aspects of taxation. The evidence of the ad hoc body evoked considerable appreciation from the Commission and the Government of UP, and some suggestions made by the Chamber were incorporated in the recommendations of the Commission.

This Chamber's efforts in developing indigenous industries designed to prop up munitions production and war requirements were lauded on all hands, by both the governments of those days and the opposition in the Legislature.

1939By the year 1939 this Chamber had developed into such a mighty organisation of the varied business interests in this state that even on the national economic stage the Chamber's participation was sought by both the government and the legislature of those days. In fact, the Governors of UP made use of this Chamber as a platform for the expression of the Government's views on economic questions year after year, in the absence of popular legislatures functioning in the Province.

1933The Chamber was invited in May 1933 to lead evidence before the Joint Select Parliament Committee on Indian Constitutional Reforms, to place before that committee the case of Indian commerce and industry of the United Provinces, with particular reference to the inadequacy of representation of commercial interests in the Provincial Legislature, as the allocation of only three seats in the Legislative Assembly for commerce and industry was considered wholly inadequate and unfair given the importance of commerce and industry in UP. A plea for equal representation of European and Indian interests in the UP Assembly was put forward. The Delimitation Committee, recognising the claims of the Chamber for electoral privileges in connection with the reformed UP Assembly, recommended the constitution of the Chamber as a constituency (1937 to 1950).

Within the brief period of a year since its incorporation, this Chamber had the unique privilege of visits by the leading members of the Viceroy's Executive Council and the members of the Central Board of Revenue, apart from those of the heads of administration of this Province.