India to send 85-member team to Davos

Despite the current economic slowdown, India will be represented by an 85-member delegation — around the same as last year — at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), which starts from Wednesday.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath will lead the delegation, which includes two other ministers —Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Science & Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, is also a part of the delegation, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an industry lobby group.

Fourteen representatives from the information technology (IT) sector form the largest bloc, with market bellwether Infosys Technologies represented by six of its top management members. S Ramadorai, CEO and MD of India’s largest software services firm, Tata Consultancy Services, and chairman of the Bangalore-based Wipro Ltd, Azim Premji, are also part of the delegation.

Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra, will chair a meeting with Kofi Annan, former secretary-general, United Nations.

The theme for this year’s meeting is “Shaping the post-crisis world.” More than 2,500 participants, including 41 heads of state or governments, will participate in the four-day event in Davos, Switzerland.

“Thirty-six members of the Indian delegation will join the discussions in around 40 sessions over four days to lend an Indian perspective to global issues ranging from economic crisis to climate change, energy, skill development, innovation and culture”, the CII said.

Other prominent representatives are: KV Kamath, president of the CII and CEO of ICICI Bank, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of India’s largest private firm, Reliance Industries Ltd, Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group, Sunil Mittal of the Bharti Group, Rahul Bajaj of the Bajaj Group, KP Singh of DLF Ltd and RS Sharma of NTPC Ltd.