Hillary meets India Inc's top leaders

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday had a breakfast meeting with top honchos of India Inc at the iconic, sea-facing Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Amongst those from India Inc who were present at the meeting included Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group and Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani. Others present were the chiefs of India's two largest banks, O P Bhatt of State Bank and Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, Swati Piramal and Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys Founder N R Narayana Murthy and a leading proponent of corporate social responsibility initiatives in the country.

Industrialist Jamshyd Godrej and Tata Group official R K Krishna Kumar also interacted with Clinton along with renowned corporates including Ashok Ganguly and Amrita Patel. India Inc is widely expected to discuss the subject of protectionism and outsourcing, issues which are bound to impact them, especially in this period of global economic meltdown, at the meeting with Clinton.

The meeting is also widely expected to focus on CSR, a subject close to Clinton's heart. Clinton arrived in Mumbai on Friday night on an official visit to India, during which high-level discussions are likely to promote bilateral co-operation in $30-billion Indian civil nuclear power programme and $43-billion bilateral trade.

Image: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chairman of Tata Group Ratan Tata at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai

Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters