Pranab Mukherjee could skip business meet

Pranab Mukherjee may drop out of the high-profile business summit in Mumbai, where US president Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

There is no official word on this yet, but sources said political compulsions may not allow the Union finance minister to travel to Mumbai.

Since currency and opening of doors for FDI in crucial sectors is on Obama’s plate, Mukherjee’s absence in Mumbai could dampen the business summit. However, last-minute changes cannot be ruled out, highly placed sources said.

Mukherjee along with defence minister AK Antony are probing the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai. The 2-member panel was appointed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to investigate the matter, allegedly involving politicians, bureaucrats and army personnel.

Commerce minister Anand Sharma in any case will be a key person to represent the Indian side at the Business & Entrepreneurship Summit along with other ministers. The summit will be attended by top CEOs of the two countries.

The summit being hosted jointly by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), Confederation of India Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) will be held on November 6.

In the initial itinerary, Obama was to deliver the keynote and Mukherjee the special address. Recently, the agenda was changed to include Anand Sharma along with Mukherjee for the special address.

More than 400 CEOs, from America and India are expected to attend this summit. Around 150 chief executives from top US firms and another 280 from India may participate in the summit.

USIBC chairman and CEO/president of McGraw Hill Companies Terry McGraw and US secretary of commerce Garry Locke are also scheduled to speak during the day-long business meet.