Second In Command

Tradition has it that the vice president of the country's premier business chamber takes over as president the following year.

Born on October 1, 1951, Shah is the older of the two sons of industrialist Viren Shah. He obtained his first degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1973, and went on to do a Masters in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. Next came a programme in management development from the Harvard Business School in 1983.

Today, the 46-year-old is managing director of Mukand Ltd, the biggest manufacturer of long products made from alloy and special steels.

Shah is also a connoisseur of art, and makes it a point to take time off his hectic schedule to visit art exhibitions. He took an avid interest in the recently held exhibition of Mughal miniatures,