Shriti Vadera among UK's 20 most powerful business people

Shriti Vadera of Indian origin working in UK's Department of Business Enterprise and Competitiveness, has been named among the 20 most powerful business people in the country's public sector by a London daily.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has topped the list of 100 most powerful business people in the public sector and non-governmental organisations compiled by The Daily Telegraph.

Vadera, parliamentary under-secretary of State for Business and Competitiveness, Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, ranked 20th, is ahead of BBC Worldwide Chief Executive John Smith (26th), Takeover Panel chairman Peter Scott (27th) and Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson (32nd), among others.

"After eight years as a special adviser to Gordon Brown while he was Chancellor, Vadera is now the prime minister's Whitehall enforcer at the new Department for BERR," the daily said.

Vadera had spent 14 years at investment bank UBS Warburg and five years as a trustee at Oxfam.

"She retains a global perspective, helping set up Bill Gates' massive drive to immunise 500 million children against preventable diseases and playing a key role in development issues, including the cancellation of poor country debts agreed by the G8 in 2000 and 2005," the report noted.

On Mervyn King, the daily said that he has been at the centre of the turmoil over the future of Northern Rock, clashing with the Financial Services Authority.

"He has provided some stability as the only ever-present on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee since it was set up over a decade ago to set interest rates," the report said.