Does CII truly represent Indian Industry?

Interesting to see that Confederation of Indian Industry ( CII ) membership has fallen for the first time after early years of liberalization. Is it a sign of high membership fee, that in difficult times small companies/firms with less than 10 lakh turnover might have withdrawn? Not sure, as it just costs Rs 5000 to renew the membership annually for such companies. or Was it an exercise  by CII itself to axe more than 600 members? It is also interesting to see the self proclaimed representative of Indian industry has just got close to 8000 members while companies registered with ROC(Registrar of companies) might easily be in excess of 2 million. Does CII need to do more to widen the base to call itself the true representative of Indian Industry?

An Attempt to optimize Vegetables/Fruits spending

"India’s Food Inflation Quickens to 12.21%, a Nine-Month High", says  Bloomberg report . 

With Mamta ready to withdraw support from UPA govt on Petrol Price hikes and Prime minister Manmohan Singh attributing high inflation in vegetables and fruits prices to growing prosperity, These are difficult times for poor and middle class families in India. I happen to buy vegetables today(5th Nov 2011 from local hypermart in Bangalore and did a quick comparison with prices offered by HOPCOMS(The Horticultural Producer's Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society Limited).  Here is the comparison

It was expected for prices to be higher at Village Hypermart considering the higher profit orientation but price difference was as high as 160% for Green chilli. Except Onion, all vegetables were priced higher than HOPCOMS.

So Key Takeaways in Bangalore

• Before you buy, Compare veggie and fruit prices  with HOPCOMS prices on their website  or just by sending SMS HOPCOMS VEG OR HOPCOMS FRUIT to 9243355223.
• Find nearest HOPCOMS stall near your home when you plan to buy