The Hindu Business Line : CII to build networking platform for Indian Americans

IN order to tap the Indian American community, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has set up a group called the CII Council on Indian Americans, which would provide a networking platform.

The council would work towards creating a bridge between the Indian Americans and Indian individuals, corporate units, non-Governmental organisations, social initiatives and city/district level initiatives, among others.

The council plans to have its first 100 members and the Web site in place by February next. Further, the council would conduct roadshows to involve 200-300 members by April and show initial results of the networking activity by July.

"The CII council on Indian Americans would be chaired by Mr Sam Pitroda, Chairman, C-Sam Inc and co-chaired by Mr Anil Kumar, Director, McKinsey and Company," said the CII President, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal.

The Indian American community has grown, is extremely talented, highly educated and wishing to participate in and support India's development, he added.

"Many Indian Americans, who have been in the US for decades and are experts in various areas, are looking for things to do here in India. While someone is interested in setting up a liver hospital, someone wants to start on mental health. The key is to focus on these people and bring all these efforts into a system," said Mr Pitroda.

"There are about two million Indian Americans, out of which 2,000 people would be in the top end of their respective professions. McKinsey is in the process of building a database of the same. These individuals can contribute with technical and management expertise," said Mr Kumar.

The CII council would engage Indian Americans and help structure their connection and engagement with India. CII would connect Indian Americans with the six national taskforces set up by CII on rural economy, education, healthcare, water, energy and tourism. The Indian American members for these taskforces would be appointed by January.

Going further, CII would also build bilateral networks between Indians residing in other countries such as the UK, Singapore and Indians here, informed CII Chief Mentor, Mr Tarun Das.