 "Theresa May and Narendra Modi")
Only about eight UK business heads could be spotted at the morning photo-op with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British premier Theresa May, as the joint summit with India kicked off in New Delhi Monday morning. A line-up of around 40 chief executives is expected from the UK, but no official list has been announced.
Those who made it to the photo session, perhaps braving the thick smog that has engulfed the capital, included chairman of insurance giant Lloyds group John Nelson, BAE Systems chief executive Ian King, Standard Chartered chairman John Peace, Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes, Standard Life chairman Gerry Grimstone and deputy chairman & CEO of engineering consultancy Arup group David Whittleton. Also present were director general of Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Carolyn Fairbairn and chairman of UK India Business Council Patricia Hewitt.
The Indian side had better attendance, with around 13 business heads making it to the photo-op with the two prime ministers and top officials. Piramal group chairman Ajay Piramal, Bharti chief Sunil Mittal, Kotak chairman Uday Kotak, Reckitt Benckiser India CEO Rakesh Kapoor, Bharat Forge CMD Baba Kalyani, Fortis’ Malvinder Singh, Punj Lloyd chairman Atul Punj, Suzlon founder Tulsi Tanti, Cadila Pharma CMD Rajiv Modi, PI Industries CMD Salil Singhal, Triveni Turbine MD Nikhil Sawhney, Hindustan Aeronautics CMD T Suvarna Raju and Lalit group’s Jyotsna Suri were among those present.
While authorities maintained that all top CEOs were coming for the India UK Tech Summit coinciding with May’s visit, some prominent business heads are learnt to have given it a miss. Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao and Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth are among those not coming for the summit. Instead the two companies will be represented by their India heads.
From the India side, it is not known if any top official from the Tata group will attend. Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, was earlier the co-chair of the India UK CEO forum. Now, Ajay Piramal is believed to have replaced him as the co-chair at this forum. Piramal is a non-executive director at the Tata Sons board.
Also, there’s no information yet on whether Reliance and Birla groups will have any top representation at the summit.
