Anil Ambani name missing from list of Vibrant invitees

GANDHINAGAR: Anil Ambani has been one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders of Vibrant Gujarat from the time it began in 2003. But this year, his name is conspicuously missing from the list of invitees released by the Gujarat government on Tuesday for the biennial summit.

His absence was also noticed when Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani recently met business leaders in Mumbai to promote the January 18-20 show.

"Vibrant Summit is the most prestigious state government event, so we have taken the utmost care in inviting industry leaders," said Manoj Das, principal secretary to Rupani. "We have avoided all business leaders whose names could draw even the slightest negative perception. The government's effort is to create a positive business environment in the state."

TOI learnt at the beginning of the year that Ambani's name would not be on the guest list and made repeated attempts to elicit a response from this group, but without any success.

Ambani has been on the dais for the valedictory function of almost every summit. In 2009, he was among the first industrialists to hail Narendra Modi - Gujarat's chief minister at the time - as the future Prime Minister of India. Several tycoons joined the chorus in the following years.

The NDA government has been under political fire, especially from the Congress, for allegedly favouring Ambani's firm in the Rafale deal.

According to the state government, among those expected to attend the summit are Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Adani, and Adi Godrej.