The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I) organized a Financial Awareness Conclave – “Wealth: Inclusion, Creation, Protection & Growth” on Friday, bringing together policymakers, regulators, bankers, and financial experts.
The conclave featured a series of engaging expert roundtable discussions. The session on “Envisaging Integrated Financial Ecosystems: MSME Growth through Credit, Cash Flow & Capital”, witnessed insightful deliberations from Mr. Shams Tabrez, DGM-SME, State Bank of India, and Mr. Ujjwal Chandra, Deputy Zonal Head, Central Bank of India, on strengthening credit access and sustainable growth pathways for MSMEs.
Another key session, “Dream. Scale. List. – The MSME IPO Revolution,” explored emerging opportunities for MSMEs to access capital markets. The discussion featured Mr. Sandeep More, Regional Head-East, BSE Limited, and Mr. Vinay Jajodia, Managing Director, Jajodia Equity Advisors, who shared perspectives on the growing momentum of SME listings and capital market participation.
The roundtable on “Money Multiplier: Turning Investments into Wealth,” moderated by Mr. Rahul Banerjee, Founder & MD, PGP Academy and Member, Finance & Banking National Committee, BCC&I, brought together Mr. Argha Chakraborty, Manager–Training, Nuvama Wealth Management, and Mr. Stuart Erskine, Co-Founder & CEO, PlanPrompt, who discussed investment discipline, financial planning and long-term wealth creation strategies.
The session on “Protecting Wealth: Insurance, Risk & Resilience” highlighted the importance of risk management and financial protection. The discussion featured Mr. Rahul Chakraborty, Regional Manager, P&GS, LIC of India, and Mr. Sudipta Deb, Zonal Underwriting Head, Universal Sompo General Insurance, who emphasized the role of insurance in safeguarding individuals, families and businesses against unforeseen risks.
A special segment on retirement planning included a fireside chat on “Securing the Future: NPS and Pension Solutions” with SBI Pension Fund, setting the stage for the much-awaited address by the Guest of Honour.
A key highlight of the conclave was the Special Address by Ms. Mamta Rohit, Executive Director, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), who emphasized the growing importance of retirement preparedness and pension coverage in ensuring long-term financial security.
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Rohit elaborated on the various pension initiatives being promoted by PFRDA to expand social security coverage across different sections of society. She highlighted the benefits of the National Pension System (NPS) as a flexible, transparent and low-cost retirement savings vehicle that enables individuals to systematically build a retirement corpus through long-term investments.
She also drew attention to the NPS Vatsalya Scheme, which enables parents and guardians to initiate pension savings for their children at an early age, thereby fostering a culture of financial planning and retirement preparedness from a young age.
Further, Ms. Rohit spoke about the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) and its significance in strengthening retirement security for eligible government employees by offering greater predictability and financial stability in post-retirement life.
Encouraging wider participation in pension schemes, she emphasized that retirement planning should form an integral part of every individual’s financial journey, irrespective of age or profession. She noted that while wealth creation remains important, long-term financial well-being ultimately depends on building adequate retirement savings and ensuring financial independence during one’s later years.
The conclave successfully reinforced the importance of financial awareness, investment literacy, risk protection and retirement planning as essential pillars of inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
