Indian Merchants' Chamber took birth on September 7,1907 to wrest economic Swaraj for people under the inspiration of great leaders like Lokmanya Tilak, Justice Ranade, Dadabhoy Naoroji and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi noticed the singular role played by the Chamber and agreed to become its honorary member, thereby bestowing upon it a unique honour.
The patriotic fervour churned up by the chamber roused the business community to work towards liberating Indian industry, trade and commerce from foreign domination. The spirit of Swaraj possessed the chamber, a long succession of its presidents turned fighters for economic freedom.The chamber lent full support to the hardcore political struggle led by the congress and engaged itself in organising nationalist businessmen. The Indian economy suffered violent disturbances under the impact of two world wars, a series of global depressions, famines that took millions of lives, recurring epidemics of banks insolvency, sporadic eruption of communal riots and political upheavals. Against this backdrop, the British government was quietly tightening its stronghold on vital parts of the Indian economy-industry, trade, commerce, banking and transport through a plethora of legislative measures.
The chamber waged historic battles against every one of these measures and dispelled wrong impressions, if any, that the chamber was constituted to safeguard only traders' interests. Pre-independence, IMC functioned as the nation's watchdog on the economic front, keeping vigil on the colonial masters' exploitative moves.Post-independence, the IMC continued its association with eminent personalities who shaped India as we know it today - Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Smt. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, to name a few. Such stalwarts often graced the Chamber by their presence and thought-provoking addresses.
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