Nandan Nilekani to advise London Mayor

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 12 August 2008, 16:51 IST
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Bangalore: India's IT firm Infosys Co-chairman Nandan Nilekani is being drafted in to advise Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, on the business policy of London in the build-up to the 2012 Olympic Games, reported Telegraph. Nilekani, who is among a breed of Indian billionaires who have helped drive the country's booming information technology industry in recent years, is to join the Mayor's international council of business advisers, which will advise the Mayor on business landscape of London and the prospective legacy derived from being the Olympics' host in 2012. Nilekani will join a large group of chairmen, chief executives and other leading figures from the commercial world. The group is being chaired by Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the marketing services group WPP, who agreed to oversee the new council on behalf of the previous mayor, Ken Livingstone. A spokesman for the Mayor said a formal announcement about the line-up of the council will be made before the end of the month. The advisory council, which will be independent of official Olympic organizing bodies, is expected to comprise as many as 50 members when the list is finalized. "London 2012 represents a unique opportunity for British and international business. [It] will showcase the city's strength and attributes and its creativity and innovation as the world's attention shifts from Beijing to London," said Sorrell after agreeing to take on the role during last January's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.