IICA and National Productivity Council Explore Strategic Convergence for Viksit Bharat

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs) hosted a high-level delegation from the National Productivity Council (NPC) led by Smt. Neeraja Shekhar, Director General, and Shri Umashankar Prasad, Deputy Director General (Group), to explore areas of collaboration in training, research, productivity, sustainability, and compliance support.

 The delegation was warmly welcomed by the Director General & CEO, IICA Sh Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh who felicitated the dignitaries with shawl and memento.

   In his address, the DG & CEO, IICA, emphasized the growing and evolving demands from industry and the need for institutions to remain relevant to national priorities. He underlined that India’s leadership has articulated a clear vision for the future, and institutions must collectively contribute—both individually and collaboratively —towards achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat.

 During the visit, detailed presentations were made on IICA’s mandate and activities by the Heads of various Schools and Centres. The presentations highlighted IICA’s multifaceted role in education, training, research, advocacy, and advisory services, supporting both government and private sector initiatives.

   Speaking at the interaction, Smt. Neeraja Shekhar, DG, NPC, highlighted that NPC was established in 1958, soon after India’s independence, when the country faced limited resources and an urgent need to improve productivity. She recalled the historic productivity delegation to Japan, which laid the foundation for institutionalizing productivity efforts in India.

   Since then, NPC has expanded its work from the industrial sector to agriculture, services, MSMEs, sustainability, green productivity, and ESG-linked initiatives.

  Smt. Shekhar further noted NPC’s active engagement with the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), facilitating international exposure, inter-country study visits, expert exchanges, and productivity benchmarking frameworks. These initiatives help assess industrial readiness, organizational strength, financial capability, and manufacturing maturity, particularly for MSMEs.

   Both institutions expressed strong intent to move forward collaboratively, combining IICA’s strengths in policy research, training, and advisory services with NPC’s hands-on, implementation-driven productivity expertise, to support India’s transition towards a high-income, competitive, innovative, and sustainable economy. The event was coordinated by Dr Naveen Sirohi, Head- School of Finance and Management, IICA.