It was time to mix business with pleasure at a dinner party held at Taj Bengal on Friday evening. The new team of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) turned up in their semi-formal best as host Shashwat Goenka, the new senior vice-president of ICC, dedicated the evening to Aditya Agarwal, the new president of ICC. There was no speech, no elaborate decoration, no pomp and show — just an easy evening where everyone comfortably chatted over cocktails.
The 90-year-old body of business and industry was founded in 1925 in Calcutta and is now present in seven cities. It has representation from the A to G (and beyond) of biz families (think Agarwals, Bangurs, Goenkas...). t2 met some of them.
Shashwat Goenka is “extremely excited” to be the senior VP of ICC this year, and wife Shivika shares his excitement. “I think it’s going to be very interesting because I’ll be able to learn a lot about policy-making in the country and how it directly and indirectly impacts the progress of our country. I look forward to learning under the guidance of Aditya (the current ICC president), learning from the immediate past president Siddhant Kaul and others, and working with the rest of the ICC team,” said Shashwat. The Goenka boy heads Spencer’s Retail Limited of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. “I’m really proud of Shashwat and will support him in whatever he does,” smiled Shivika, who studied entrepreneurship in college.
Rajeev Singh, the director general of ICC, and Abhilasha Sethia, president, Ladies Study Group, which is the ladies’ wing of ICC. When asked about the younger generation entering a space largely driven by seniors till now, Singh said: “It’s good to see the dynamic change. While the seniors have taken a mentorship role, the juniors have a more executive role.”
The Oberoi Grand GM (far left) Varun Chhibber with fourth-generation industrialist Prashant Jalan of Bengal Nestor’s Industries and his wife Mamta.
(L-R) Shashwat and Shivika with new ICC president Aditya Agarwal and his wife Richa. “role of the chamber is primarily to bridge the gap between the government, the policy-makers and the industry. That will definitely continue. The theme for this year is ‘Connect, Act, Transform’ and we have drawn up plans to achieve an overall growth and development through substantial and sustained improvements in infrastructure & connectivity,” said Aditya, director, Emami Group. He was also the youngest ever (former) president of the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce.
Next year, Shashwat is set to be the youngest president in the history of ICC. Reason enough for dad Sanjiv Goenka to be all smiles. “Yes, I’m a proud father,” he said. “The ICC is a very good business platform and I think it’s very good that Shashwat is being active there because he will gain a lot from it,” added mom Preeti.
Text: Karo Christine Kumar. Pictures: Rashbehari Das
