Cut up with the Commerce and Industry Ministry for not heeding his suggestions on the composition of the Indo-French CEOs' Forum,Infosys Chairman Emeritus NR Narayana Murthy has quit as co-chair. Murthy was named to the post in 2008 and the forum had its first meeting in November 2009. According to government sources,Murthy wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in end 2011 expressing his disappointment over the ministry's refusal to co-opt his choice of individuals as members of the forum. He informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of his decision to resign. While the Prime Minister's Office advised the Commerce and Industry Ministry to reconsider Murthy's suggestions,it stuck to its position. The government has now named Triveni Engineering CMD Dhruv Sawhney as the co-chair from the Indian side. In his recommendations set in the second half of calendar year 2011,Murthy had asked for inclusion of Jamshyd Godrej,Rakesh Mittal and IIT Bombay Director Devang Khakhar as members of the forum from the Indian side. Sources close to Murthy said he wanted them for specific expertise in certain areas where India-France business cooperation could be enhanced,including agriculture,chemicals. However,the ministry refused. "We told him (Murthy) that we can invite these individuals to the forum's meetings whenever there are discussions on these specific areas. But we did not want them as members," a source in the ministry said. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma spoke to the Infosys co-founder to sort out the issue and subsequently,the ministry appointed its own choice of industrialists when some members in the forum were to be replaced. It was this decision that prompted Murthy to finally pull out. Sources close to Murthy said he considered the chapter as closed. The setting up of a forum was announced during the prime minister's visit to Paris in September 2008. Murthy was requested by the government to co-chair the forum from the Indian side and Bertrand Collomb,former president of Lafarge,chaired it from the French side. The forum met once in 2009,twice in 2010,but skipped the annual meeting in 2011.
