DNA

Mumbai, Jun 13: Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Tuesday received a dinner invitation from Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation, Seattle (US). Deshmukh is going on a 10-day official tour to the US on June 24 to showcase Maharashtra as the most investor-friendly business destination in India.

Amidst the frantic preparations for the tour, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had a surprise visitor on Tuesday.

Ravi Venkatesh, Chairman and Vice-President, Microsoft India, came called on the CM at Mantralaya to deliver the dinner invitation on behalf of Gates. Deshmukh accepted the invitation, but the date was not fixed.

A senior CMO official told DNA, “Deshmukh is looking forward to meet Gates in the US. He will be the second state head, after former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, to dine with Gates.”

If Microsoft is Gates’ claim to fame, he is no less renowned for the charity foundation he co-owns with wife Melinda. Venkatesh told Deshmukh that Gates was keen on setting up charity projects, fighting malnutrition and other health hazards among children, in various parts of Maharashtra.

Gates’ foundation is the second richest philanthropic organisation in the world, with investments over $29 billion. The officials documents also profile him for generous donations worth $100 million to developing nations for fighting infectious disease such as Hepatitis B, AIDS, malaria, etc.

Happy state of affairs

The CM has, for the second time, decided to showcase Maharashtra in the US as the most chosen destination for investors. Earlier, Deshmukh had gone to the US in 2005 to attract foreign direct investments.

Several memorandum of understandings and letters of intents were exchanged during the promotional tour. Maharashtra tops in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) chart, alone accounting for 21 per cent of the total investment in the country. From August 1991 to 2006 end, 3,928 projects worth a total FDI of Rs 57,170 crore have been at up in the state. Of these, 1,473 projects (38per cent) have already started production.