The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) is one of the apex trade associations of India. The organisation represents the interests of trade and commerce in India, and acts as an interface between industry, government and other relevant stakeholders on policy issues and initiatives. The goal of this organization is to promote both domestic and international trade, and reduce trade barrierswhile fostering conducive environment for the growth of trade and industry of India.

ASSOCHAM was established in 1920 by promoter chambers, representing all regions of India. The Association's head office is located in New Delhi and regional offices are located in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Kolkata. As of 2012^[update], ASSOCHAM covers a membership of over 400,000 companies and professionals across the country.

ASSOCHAM members represent the following sectors:

ASSOCHAM operates through 59 Expert Committees that provide an interactive platform to members for interaction and aid formulating policy recommendations to facilitate economic, industrial and social growth. The association has a special role in promoting international trade, and often hosts international trade delegates to India, along with sending delegations of Indian business groups to foreign locations. It also interacts with counterpart international organizations to promote bilateral economic issues. ASSOCHAM is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Business Organization, through ICC, India.

Manmohan Singh (Punjabi: ਮਨਮੋਹਨ ਸਿੰਘ [mənˈmoːɦən ˈsɪ́ŋɡ], Hindi: मनमोहन सिंह [mənˈmoːɦən ˈsɪŋɦ] ( listen); born 26 September 1932) is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister from the Indian National Congress (Congress) party. He is a four-time Member of Parliament from the Upper House of the Parliament of India, the Rajya Sabha, representing the state of Assam. His term in the 14th Rajya Sabha was from 22 May 2004 to 26 February 2009. In the 15th Rajya Sabha his term started 22 May 2009 and is scheduled to continue till 2014. On 27 May 2012, he became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Myanmar in 25 years.

Born in Gah, Punjab in British India (now Pakistan) in 1932, he migrated to India with his family at the time of Partition in 1947. Singh studied at Panjab University, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. Thereafter, while Singh was working at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Lalit Narayan Mishra, the then Indian Minister for Foreign Trade, appointed Singh as an advisor to his ministry. He was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 1982 and 1985, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India from 1985 to 1987 and Secretary General of the South Commission from 1987 to 1990. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1991, he was inducted into Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao's cabinet as Finance Minister the same year, a post he held until 1996. His tenure as Finance Minister is best remembered for the economic reforms he carried out, which ended the Licence Raj system and helped open the Indian economy.

Kapil Sibal (Punjabi: ਕਪਿਲ ਸਿਬਲ, Hindi: कपिल सिब्बल; born 14 Feb 1950,is a lawyer and an Indian politician. He is currently the Minister of Human Resource Development and Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He also held the two positions of Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet.

Sibal was first nominated in July 1988, as a Member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from the State of Bihar and served as Additional Solicitor General of India (December 1989 – December 1990) and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association on three occasions (1995–96, 1997–98 and 2001–2002).

Kapil Sibal joined the Bar association in 1970.In 1973, he qualified for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), and was offered an appointment, but declined the offer. Instead he decided to set up his own law practice. He was designated as a Senior Lawyer in 1983. He was also the Additional Solicitor General of India between 1989 and 1990.

Rajnath Singh (born July 10, 1951) is a prominent Indian politician who has served the country in many capacities. Beginning his career as a physics lecturer, Singh used his long-term connections with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in order to become involved with the Janata Party. That involvement led him to numerous official positions within his home state of Uttar Pradesh. Among his roles have been a period as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, as a Cabinet Minister in the National Democratic Alliance regime and as National President of one the country's major political organisations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was previously president of the BJP youth wing and the BJP's unit in his home state.

Rajnath Singh was born in the small village of Bhabhaura in the Chandauli district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in a Rajput family . His father was Ram Badan Singh and his mother was Gujarati Devi. He was born into a simple farmer's family in the region and went on to secure a masters degree in physics, acquiring first division results from the Gorakhpur University. Rajnath Singh had been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 1964, at the age of 13 and remained connected with the organization even when he took up his job of a physics lecturer in Mirzapur. In 1974, he was appointed secretary for the Mirzapur unit of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, a Hindutva based political party.

Uddhav Thackeray (Marathi: उद्धव ठाकरे) (born 27 July 1960) is the executive president of the Shiv Sena, a right-wing, Marathi ethnocentric regional political party based in the Indian state of Maharashtra. He was given this role in 2004, taking over from his father and party founder, Hindu nationalist politician Balasaheb Thackeray.

Earlier, Uddhav was looking after Saamana (a daily Marathi newspaper) while being actively involved in election campaigning activities. The party won the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation election in 2002 and, thereafter, he was appointed as the party working president in 2003. Differences between Thackeray and former Shiv Sena leader Narayan Rane culminated in the expulsion of Rane from the Shiv Sena. Another split in the Sena came when Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray had a falling-out, leading to Raj leaving the Shiv Sena in 2006 to form his own party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

The Maharashtra Desha, a book by Uddhav, depicts the heritage of Maharashtra in the form of aerial photographs.