Learn how to deal with the dragon

Mukesh Ambani finishing school in Kolkata for executives going to China.

Kolkata seems to have become the Ambani brothers' favourite knowledge centre. A week after Anil Ambani announced he would set up an information technology institute on the outskirts of the city, older brother Mukesh is quietly giving shape to his plans to come up with a finishing school for Indian executives going to China on work. The school will teach them how to do business in that country.

New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, an independent organisation of Reliance Industries, has submitted a proposal to the West Bengal government to set up an India-China centre.

"Negotiations between both the parties are on. The government is likely to earmark land for the project soon," sources at Writers' Building, headquarters of the Left Front government, said today.

The proposed centre's international faculty will offer a residential programme for 100 days, including conducted tours of China for 10 days. Observer Research Foundation will leverage its partnership with Brokling Institute of Washington, which started a course on China last September. The centre will also set up consultancy and research wings in Shanghai and Bejing.

Though Reliance Industries declined to comment, state government sources said the idea was to bridge the cultural gap between India and China so that executives could take the ties between the two emerging forces of the global economy beyond business.

Sources familiar with India-China ties said rising bilateral trade between the two countries in the backdrop of stagnant business co-operation demanded that the relationship be taken beyond trade.

India-China trade is growing at 20 per cent a year. This year it is expected to cross the $16-billion mark against last year's $13 billion. Reliance exported petrochemicals and refinery products worth $750 million last year. The company's exports are likely to cross the $1-billion mark this year.

Kolkata is the natural choice for the centre as the City of Joy has the potential to emerge as the gateway to future India-China business.