Chander Agarwal and the Express Industry Council of India: Leading Beyond One Company

Quick answer: Chander Agarwal, Managing Director of TCI Express Limited, is a Management Committee Member of the Express Industry Council of India (EICI), a body that brings express delivery companies together to work on shared rules, costs and better ways of working across the Indian logistics sector.

Most articles about a business leader focus on their own company. But some leaders also spend time working on problems that affect an entire industry, not just their own business. Chander Agarwal's role with the Express Industry Council of India is one example of this wider kind of leadership.

In this article, we explain what an industry council does, why it matters, and how this kind of involvement connects to his work at TCI Express. As always, we keep the language simple, so students, business owners and curious readers can follow easily.

Who Is Chander Agarwal?

Chander Agarwal is the Managing Director of TCI Express, an Indian express delivery company listed on the NSE (symbol TCIEXP) and the BSE (scrip code 540212). The company's official Managing Director Chander Agarwal page gives his profile. For his career background, read Chander Agarwal Career Timeline: From Student to Managing Director of TCI Express, and see his Bloomberg executive profile for an independently tracked view of his current role.

What Is the Express Industry Council of India?

The Express Industry Council of India, often shortened to EICI, is an industry body that brings express delivery companies together. Chander Agarwal serves as a Management Committee Member of this group.

An industry council like this typically exists to represent the shared interests of an entire sector, rather than any single company. It usually works on issues that no one company can solve alone, such as national rules, infrastructure needs, and standards that affect every business in the field.

Why Do Industries Need Councils Like This?

It might seem simpler for each company to just look after its own interests. But industries often face challenges that are bigger than any single business, such as:

• Unclear or outdated regulations that slow down operations for everyone.

• High logistics costs across the whole economy, not just one company.

• Infrastructure gaps, such as roads, ports or airports that need improvement.

• Safety and quality standards that benefit from being consistent across the industry.

• A shared voice with government, since policymakers often prefer speaking with one organised group rather than many separate companies.

A council brings competing companies together around these shared challenges, even while those same companies continue to compete with each other in the market.

What Kind of Work Does an Industry Council Typically Do?

While the exact activities of any specific council can vary, bodies like the EICI generally focus on work such as:

• Policy engagement, sharing industry views with government bodies on relevant rules and regulations.

• Research and data, helping to build a clearer picture of the industry's size, challenges and opportunities.

• Standard-setting, encouraging consistent practices around safety, service quality or reporting.

• Networking and knowledge-sharing, allowing member companies to learn from each other's experiences.

• Representing the sector publicly, offering a collective voice in media, events and government consultations.

Why India's Logistics Costs Are a Shared Industry Concern

One recurring theme in Indian logistics discussions is the country's overall logistics cost, often described as taking a double-digit share of GDP. Many experts hope to bring this closer to about 8%, a level seen in some developed countries. India's National Logistics Policy also aims to make moving goods cheaper, quicker and simpler.

This is a good example of a challenge that fits naturally with council-level work. No single company, however well-run, can fix national infrastructure gaps or streamline country-wide regulations by itself. Progress here usually requires many companies, working through a shared body, to speak with one voice to policymakers and to share ideas about efficiency across the whole sector.

How This Connects to Chander Agarwal's Work at TCI Express

Throughout this article series, we have looked at how TCI Express operates: its asset-light model, its six services, its growing branch network, and its focus on technology and customer service. Taking part in an industry council fits naturally alongside this work, for a few reasons:

• Shared learning: insights from across the industry can inform decisions within his own company.

• Influence on the operating environment: better industry-wide rules and infrastructure can benefit TCI Express directly, alongside its competitors.

• Reputation and trust: being seen as an active, engaged industry participant can strengthen a company's standing with customers, partners and investors.

• Long-term thinking: working on sector-wide issues suggests a leadership style focused on more than short-term company results alone.

Why This Kind of Leadership Matters

It is worth pausing to consider why any business leader would choose to spend time and energy on industry-wide work, rather than focusing purely on their own company. A few common reasons include:

Recognising Shared Fate

If an entire industry improves, individual companies within it often benefit too, through better infrastructure, clearer rules, and a stronger overall reputation for the sector.

Building Long-Term Relationships

Working alongside other companies, even competitors, on shared challenges can build trust and relationships that may prove valuable in other contexts too, such as partnerships or joint advocacy on future issues.

Contributing to a Bigger Picture

Some leaders simply believe that a healthy, well-regulated, efficient industry benefits the country as a whole, not just individual businesses, and choose to contribute their time accordingly.

What Students Can Learn from Industry-Level Leadership

This kind of role offers a useful lesson for anyone studying business or leadership: success is not only about outperforming competitors. It can also involve working with them on shared problems.

A simple way to think about this is the difference between "competing" and "collaborating". Companies like TCI Express continue to compete for customers in the open market, while also collaborating through bodies like the EICI on issues that affect the whole industry equally. Understanding when to compete and when to collaborate is a subtle but valuable leadership skill.

How Industry Councils Connect to Wider Policy, Like International Trade

Involvement in an industry body at the national level often connects naturally to wider engagement on international issues too. As discussed in our earlier guide on Chander Agarwal and India–ASEAN trade, he has also taken part in international discussions, such as the India–Singapore Business Forum, on topics including cross-border logistics and resilient supply chains.

Domestic industry engagement, through bodies like the EICI, and international engagement, through forums focused on trade between regions, often reflect the same underlying instinct: a recognition that some problems are best addressed through cooperation across an entire sector or region, not by any single company acting alone.

A Simple Analogy: The Classroom Monitor

To make this idea easier to picture, imagine a large school with many classrooms, each led by a different teacher. Each teacher focuses on their own classroom, its lessons, its discipline, its results. But the school also needs a few teachers to sit on a shared committee that decides things like exam schedules, shared facilities, and school-wide rules.

Being on that committee does not mean a teacher stops caring about their own classroom. It means they also spend some time thinking about what is good for the whole school, since a well-run school benefits every classroom inside it, including their own.

Chander Agarwal's role with the EICI works in a similar way. He continues to lead TCI Express as its own competitive business, while also contributing time to decisions that shape the wider "school", the Indian express logistics industry, that his own company operates within.

Common Misunderstandings About Industry Councils

A few misunderstandings are worth clearing up, since they can make this kind of role seem more mysterious than it is:

• It is not about companies stopping competition. Businesses within a council still compete normally in the market. Council work usually covers shared issues, not competitive strategy.

• It is not the same as owning or controlling other companies. Council membership does not give one company authority over another; it is a collaborative, not a controlling, relationship.

• It is not purely symbolic. While titles and memberships can sometimes be more about appearances than action, bodies like the EICI generally exist because there is real, ongoing work to be done on shared industry issues.

• It is not only about lobbying government. While policy engagement is often part of the work, councils frequently also focus on standards, research and knowledge-sharing among members.

How to Follow Chander Agarwal and TCI Express Online

To read more views on business and transport, you can visit these pages:

• Chander Agarwal LinkedIn: Chander Agarwal's personal LinkedIn

• Chander Agarwal Twitter (X): Chander Agarwal's verified X account (@mdtciexpress)

• Chander Agarwal Facebook: Chander Agarwal's personal Facebook profile

The company also shares news on its official pages:

• TCI Express corporate LinkedIn page

• @TCIExpressLtd on Twitter/X

• Official TCI Express Facebook hub

• TCI Express official on Instagram

Frequently Asked Questions About Chander Agarwal and Industry Leadership

Who is Chander Agarwal?

Chander Agarwal is the Managing Director of TCI Express Limited, a listed Indian express delivery company known for its asset-light and technology-led model.

What is the Express Industry Council of India?

The EICI is an industry body that brings express delivery companies together to work on shared rules, costs and better practices across the sector. Chander Agarwal is a Management Committee Member.

Why do industries need councils like the EICI?

Councils help address challenges that no single company can solve alone, such as unclear regulations, high sector-wide costs, infrastructure gaps and the need for a shared voice with government.

How does industry council work benefit an individual company?

It can bring shared learning, influence over the wider operating environment, stronger reputation, and long-term relationships, which may indirectly support the company's own operations.

What is India's target for logistics costs as a share of GDP?

Many experts hope to bring India's logistics costs closer to about 8% of GDP, a level seen in some developed countries, down from the current double-digit share often reported.

How does industry-level leadership connect to international trade work?

Both often reflect the same idea: that some challenges are better solved through cooperation across companies, sectors or regions, rather than by one organisation acting alone.

Does Chander Agarwal only focus on his own company?

No. Alongside leading TCI Express, he is involved in industry-level work through the EICI and has taken part in international forums on trade and logistics.

Is Chander Agarwal on LinkedIn and Twitter?

Yes. He has a LinkedIn profile and posts on X as @mdtciexpress.

Why This Adds to His Overall Leadership Profile

Across this article series, we have looked at Chander Agarwal's education, his career timeline, his leadership priorities at TCI Express, and his focus on customers and people. His involvement with the EICI adds one more dimension to this picture: leadership that extends outward, into the wider industry, rather than staying focused only inward, on his own company.

Taken together, these different aspects, company strategy, customer focus, staff culture and industry engagement, offer a more complete view of what leadership can look like at this level, one that balances competitive drive with a genuine sense of shared responsibility for the sector as a whole.

Final Thoughts

Chander Agarwal's work with the Express Industry Council of India shows a form of leadership that goes beyond running a single company well. By helping shape shared rules, standards and industry-wide conversations, this kind of involvement can support not just TCI Express, but the wider Indian logistics sector as a whole.

For readers, the lesson is a useful one: real leadership sometimes means competing hard in your own market, while also working openly with others on the problems that no one company can fix alone.

To read more, visit the official Chander Agarwal website and the TCI Express Limited homepage.