What is FICCI and its contribution to the sports industry?
FICCI, founded in 1927, is India's largest and oldest business organization. Its history is intertwined with the journey of India's fight for independence, industrialization, and emergence as one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
FICCI, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, represents India's business and industry. FICCI expresses the viewpoints and concerns of industry members with an intent to positively align with policy, promote debate, and engage with policymakers and civil society. It supports its members from the Indian private and public corporate sectors, as well as global corporations, drawing power from varied regional chambers of commerce and industry throughout the state extending its reach to over 2.5 million businesses.
FICCI is the primary port of contact for Indian industry, policymakers, and the foreign business community. It provides a venue for networking and consensus-building within and across sectors.
FICCI and Sports
FICCI was the first national chamber of commerce to create a sports division under the supervision of a sports committee. It was significant in bringing India Inc.'s attention to the once uncharted field of sports.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) believes that if India Inc. acquires a larger share of the sports industry, the sector will experience rapid growth. To enable India to compete worldwide and achieve better success and performance in sports, it is essential to implement an industry-friendly strategy for the sports sector and expand the country's sports infrastructure.
FICCI's goal has always been a systemic involvement of the private sector in the sports domain; their 11-year-old annual event, TURF 2022, is a pioneer in the sports business featuring a positive discussion between industry stakeholders and the government.
Speaking about the synergy between the government and FICCI and the idea behind TURF, Mr. Subhrakant Panda, President-Elect, of FICCI, said:
Government is working towards creating the roadmap for making India as one of the top 5 sporting nation by 2047. The theme of TURF 2022 (Vision 2047: Indian Sports after 100 years of Independence) intertwines well with the Government of India's Vision India@2047. FICCI believes that achieving this vision is not possible by any single stakeholder and requires deep, sustained collaboration between the government, private sector and civil society.
Filling in more details on FICCI's vision and plans for the development of the sports sector in India, Mr. Panda added:
FICCI has been working with the sector stakeholders for the development and growth of Indian sports ecosystem. We welcome more sectoral players to connect with us and help us in our strive for international success.
Mr Panda will give the Welcome Address at the Indian Sports Awards at TURF 2022, which will honor the champions driving the sector forward.
FICCI TURF has been a landmark event for the past ten years, bringing together a broad spectrum of the sports sector and shining a light on the tremendous achievements our athletes achieve year after year to make us Indians proud. Their goal is to use this forum to initiate a new alignment and exchange of ideas among all stakeholders who define the Indian sporting ecosystem in order to realize a shared vision of sporting excellence.