4 global honchos head for India

This week, four of the world's top CEOs would be touching base in India, an indication of the growing importance of the country in the scheme of things at some of the world's biggest corporate houses.

Charles Prince of the banking giant Citigroup, Daniel Borel of the technology giant Logitech and William Clay of Ford Motors will all be in the country beginning Thursday with itineraries packed with power lunches and launches.

And almost before their footfalls die away, another power delegation from HSBC would arrive in the country. Sir Mark Moody Stuart and RA Fairhead , along with other board members, would hold HSBC's first board meeting in the country.

First to touch down on Thursday would be Prince, the 55-year-old CEO of Citigroup, the second biggest foreign bank in India. In the city for two days, Prince, who controls the $81 billion financial behemoth, is expected to pay working visits to the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry.

Prince's visit assumes importance as the company has announced that it considers India among the top five markets in the world along with the US, China, Brazil and South Korea.

Second in line, founder-chairman of the Swiss peripherals giant Logitech, Borel, has much more interesting chores on hand. After touching down on the 19th, he's promising to take Indian computing "to an all new level" with the launch of the company's next-generation cordless products in Mumbai.

Logitech has grabbed a substantial market share in the country with its value-for-money products including webcams, keyboards, speakers, and India is known to be at the centre of its expansion plan. Currently, most of its products sold in India are made in south-exast Asian countries.

While Logitech would launch its products in Mumbai, the honour of feasting on Ford India's new model, the Fiesta, will however, go to Delhiites.

The 48-year-old William Clay Ford Junior, chairman of Ford Motors, would unveil the much-awaited three-box sedan, before taking stock of the performance of the company's Indian arm thus far. The head of the $170 billion group is also expected to interact with the company's dealers during his two-day visit.

November will see the visit of HSBC board members, including Stuart and Fairhead. They too are expected to interact with RBI officials and meet their business partners in India.