Thaindian News

Kolkata, Aug 1 (IANS) Over 3,000 delegates, including policy makers, consultants and planners from both the public and the private sectors would participate in the three-day annual meeting of the global association of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni starting Dec 7 here.

More than 1,000 overseas participants from the US, Britain, Canada, the Middle East, Singapore and Australia are expected to congregate during the event - christened PanIIT - being held in Kolkata for the first time.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy and Tata Steel Managing Director H.M. Nerurkar, among others, are expected to address the conference. The chief ministers of Goa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand will also be present.

ITC chairman Y.C.Deveshwar, who is the mentor of PanIIT Global Conference 2012, said it would be a great opportunity for the industry-hungry West Bengal to showcase Kolkata.

Asked whether he felt the government should exploit the opportunity to attract investments, Deveshwar said: “I should imagine. That is my view like I wish all of us should.”

“The people, who are coming from outside, are in the position to influence and that is how you make your pitch. I suppose that since people are coming here and will be spending three days here, it is a big opportunity,” he added.

Sandipan Chakravortty, chairman of the conference, said, “First time the conference will take place in Kolkata. This time it was a natural choice.”

This time the conference will focus on “Resurgence of East”, Chakravortty, the managing director of Tata Steel Processing And Distribution Ltd, said.