Modi a king among kings, says Anil Ambani

Giving a strong boost to the ''Narendra Modi for PM'' chorus, top industrialists and business leaders showered encomiums on the Gujarat Chief Minister at the biennial 'Vibrant Gujarat 2013' event today, with Anil Ambani going as far as to call him ''a king among kings''.

His elder brother Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, said, "In Narendrabhai, we have a leader with a grand vision."  He announced that a Rs500-crore university will be set up in the state by RIL in collaboration with the Gujarat government.

Anil acknowledged "respected elder brother Mukeshbhai" in his subsequent remarks before making the "king among kings" remark and going on to say,  "Narendrabhai has an Arjuna-like clarity of vision and purpose." He said the chief minister's skills have "acted as a huge magnet for investors and entrepreneurs from India and across the world in the past decade."

The event was initiated by Modi in 2003 to attract investment after an earthquake in 2001 followed by an anti-Muslim pogrom in the state in 2002 that was widely seen as being condoned by the state. Nonetheless, the first edition saw big participation from top industrialists, including Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata.

The event this year was as usual attended by thousands of corporate officials who pledged crores of rupees in investment – although out of past promises, only a fraction has actually seen the light of day.

Of Rs12,40,000 crore in investment proposed at the 2009 event, just 8.5 per cent had been invested as of November 2011, NDTV points out citing state government data.