India Inc. waits for Gates to open more windows

By Imran Qureshi, Indo-Asian News Service

Bangalore, Nov 9 (IANS) India Inc. is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the world's richest man, Microsoft Corporation's Bill Gates, to plan its strategy for a larger stake in global business in the currently uncertain environment.

The IT industry as well as the head honchos of several corporates across New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad are looking forward to listening to the entrepreneur whose U.S.-based company earns revenues of $28 billion, employing over 50,000 people in 78 countries.

"Everybody is looking forward to listen to him, his strategy for the future.

From our perspective, it is a privilege to have him in India. His visit (he

is not visiting any other Asian country) will step up our morale and act as a motivator," J. Veeraraghavan, managing director of Novell India, told IANS here.

"A number of Indian IT companies are working on Microsoft technologies. And it would be helpful for them to align their future business strategies," added Veeraraghavan, the prime mover behind Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN), a platform of professionals to benchmark software engineering practices and enhance the quality of processes in the industry.

In India's tech capital, where he arrives from New Delhi on Wednesday, Gates is expected to address about 3,000 software professionals before meeting Karnataka's IT savvy Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, followed by the chief executives of Indian corporates, under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom).

Gates will meet Infosys Technologies chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and chief executive officer Nandan Nilekani.

All these meetings will be held at Infosys City, the corporate headquarters of India's second largest software exporter.

To maintain the balance in Microsoft's relationship with the other Indian IT major Wipro, Gates will also address software professionals at its Electronics City campus.

In New Delhi, where Gates arrives Monday, he will be leading a delegation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is expected to announce long-term strategic commitments to support India's efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. He is scheduled to meet ministers and address a media conference.

Gates is likely to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan in the national capital.

After two days in New Delhi and half a day in Bangalore, Gates will fly to Mumbai, where he will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, corporate head honchos like Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and K.V. Kamath and the banking community under the banner of the country's top financial daily, The Economic Times.

He will later reach Hyderabad, where he is scheduled to meet Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Nasscom executive committee members and Satyam CEO Ramalinga Raju.

He is also scheduled to visit the sites funded by his foundation before flying back to Seattle on Thursday.

--Indo-Asian News Service