Top CEOs show India interest

Top global CEOs, including those of Wal-Mart, Rio Tinto, Tesco and Applied Materials, met commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma here on Thursday, sharing their enthusiasm about opportunities in the growi ng Indian economy.

Top global CEOs, including those of Wal-Mart, Rio Tinto, Tesco and Applied Materials, met commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma here on Thursday, sharing their enthusiasm about opportunities in the growi ng Indian economy.

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Those who met Sharma included Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke, Tesco chief executive Terry Leahy, Sistema chairman Vladimir Evtushenkov, Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese and Applied Materials head Michael Splinter.

Sharma told them that barring a few sectors, India has opened the gates for foreign direct investment in all areas. He said the global retailers can invest more in the back-end infrastructure like building supply chain between the farm producers and the retailers.

"Yes, there are enough opportunities to scale up investment," said Tesco's Terry Leahy. However, he did not give the investment details.