Corporate chiefs braced for Valentine's Day tee-off

Where do you think the top corporate and finance decision-makers and senior government executives as well as regulators will be this Valentine's Day?

Certainly not with their spouses "" at least not all through the day, that is. Rather, G N Bajpai, chairman Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Sarthak Behuria, director, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), M S Banga, chief executive officer, Hindustan Lever, and Romesh Sobti, country head ABN Amro Bank, will be teeing off at the Aditya Birla Invitation Golf Tournament.

The Birla group has clubbed golfers in groups of fours in accordance to their handicap.

Why golf? "Well, one really cannot get 160 corporate and financial chiefs, not to mention government officials and regulators playing soccer or hockey. Especially when one considers the oldest participant is well over 80 years old and has asked for a buggy," said Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company vice president marketing and communications Ravi Sharma.

"Success in golf depends a great deal on skill, practice, concentration, good manners and honesty. Very much like the qualities required for long-term success in the corporate world. This tournament portrays business acumen with finesse in a leisurely fashion," said Aditya Birla Group director financial services S K Mitra.

The two-day tournament teeing off tomorrow will also include corporate heads like Procter & Gamble managing director Bharat Patel, M&M executive director Arun Nanda, Tata Tele.com chief financial officer Vivek Sett, Marico chairman-cum-managing director Harsh Mariwala, Salomon Smith Barney chief executive officer Brian Brown, McKinsey & Co principal Leo Puri, S K Mitra himself, Deutsche Bank India chief Gunit Chadha and Rabo India Finance chief Rana Kapoor. Senior government executives have also been invited as being among the high-networth individuals.

Imagine the Birla group received a phone call from the Commissioner of Customs, M C Thakur, to participate in the golf tournament. "We did not know he was an avid golfer," said company officials, who had sent out 179 invitations.