NEW DELHI: EY India Chairman and CEO Rajiv Memani has taken charge as the new president of CII, the move coming at a time when the govt negotiates a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US while working out free trade agreements with other countries and regions.Memani takes over from ITC Chairman & MD Sanjiv Puri as CII president.R Mukundan, MD & CEO of Tata Chemicals, take charge as CII’s president-designate for 2025-26.Memani had established EY India’s market-leading corporate finance (now strategy & transactions) practice in the late 90s, and has been a member of several high-powered govt committees, including the Ministry of Finance’s taskforce that drafted a new Direct Tax Code in 2019.He is also a member of EY’s Global Executive Board as the Chair of its Growth Markets Council. He advises large Indian companies, private equity funds and multinational organizations, principally advising them on building confidence, mergers and acquisitions, technology and smart capital allocation strategies.In his Growth Markets role, his responsibilities include advancing EY’s growth markets agenda and connecting their priorities with the global firm’s investments.