BK Birla bats for Modi as PM

After Anil Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has another India Inc. honcho who sees him as prime minister material.

"Narendra Modi should become the prime minister of India," BK Birla, chairman of Century Textiles and Industries Limited said today at the inauguration of a new textile mill here in Bharuch district of South Gujarat.

Birla's remark came after Ambani and Mittal described Modi as "prime minister material" during the Vibrant Gujarat Investors Summit in Ahmedabad in January this year.

A visibly pleased Modi responded, saying "Khabarwalo ko khabar mil gaye hai (newsmen have got the news). This will be the headline in tomorrow's newspapers."

Birla, who kept seated on the dias during the entire function stood up just once to make this statement.

Modi thanked SK Birla and Kumar Mangalam Birla for completing the work on the textile mill the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for which was signed at 2007 Vibrant Gujarat Investors summit. Kumar Mangalam Birla, director of the CTIL, said their Century Mill located in Mumbai was closed down in January 2008 after which the company decided to set up a new state-of-the-art unit at Jhagadia.

The new Rs815 crore unit has the capacity to produce around 25 million metres of high-quality fine and superfine 100 per cent cotton fabrics.