Modi's dinner diplomacy to save business meet

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi held a grand dinner for the industrialists and major personalities in the Gujarat's business circle on Wednesday evening at his official residence in Gandhinagar.

Karsanbhai Patel of Nirma, Sudhir Mehta of Torrent, Alok Sanghi of Sanghi Cement and many more major industrialists were on the invitee list for the dinner.

The move is being seen as CM's last minute attempt to ensure the success of the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit-2007 to be held on January 12-13, 2007.

According to the CM office sources, the chief minister office has prepared a list of some 150 invitees which included some of the leading industrialists and businessmen from the state.

The key officials of three leading business organisations "" Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) and their captains including Chetan Tamboli of CII, Amit Modi of FICCI and Pankaj Patel of GCCI were invited for the dinner among other members.

Almost all the cabinet members of the state government were present at the dinner. Most of the secretaries of various government departments were also invited for the dinner.

According to sources in the government, this dinner was held with an intention to focus on drawing more investment during the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2007.

The last minute attempt of the CM is expected to help create proper atmosphere for the business summit and it will also serve as a platform for the industrialists and businessmen to meet the bureaucrats and ministers.