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President, PM offer condolences

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI July 7. The President, K. R. Narayanan, the Vice President, Krishan Kant, and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today led the nation in mourning the death of the Chairman of the Reliance Industries, Dhirubhai Ambani, who passed away last night in Mumbai.

In a condolence message, Mr. Narayanan recalled how Ambani, who hailed from a humble background, rose to become an eminent industrialist through his qualities of entrepreneurship and hard work. Noting that Ambani's emergence as a leading figure in the corporate world has been cited as a remarkable example, he said his life "needed to be studied in depth to highlight his important role in our country's quest for economic growth and regeneration''.

Mr. Krishan Kant, in his message, hailed Ambani as one of the principal architects of India's entrepreneurial renaissance and an inspirational figure for all those with dreams of making it good in life. "Dhirubhaiji's contribution to modern India will be long remembered.''

Expressing deep shock and grief, Mr. Vajpayee said that in the passing away of Ambani, the country has lost an "iconic proof'' of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination can achieve in his lifetime.

Observing that Ambani not only built a large and diversified business conglomerate, which greatly strengthened India's industrial base, he said he also inspired many first generation entrepreneurs with his success. "To him goes the credit of envisioning the creation of world class capacities in core areas of our infrastructure in the private sector and translating that vision into a reality in record time''.

The other dignitaries, who condoled Ambani's death, included the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, the Speaker, Manohar Joshi, the Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, and the Petroleum Minister, Ram Naik.

In her message, Ms. Gandhi recalled how despite numerous obstacles, Ambani succeeded in his endeavours through vision, tenacity and commitment to excellence.

"Today, Reliance stands as an outstanding example of Indian entrepreneurship and as a role model for corporate achievement.''

Mr. Joshi, who is currently leading a Parliamentary delegation to Crotia, said that Ambani was a `shining star' on the industrial map of India. Mr. Singh said that Ambani would be particularly remembered for redefining corporate economics. Mr. Naik, who is presently on a visit to Iraq, said the state-of-the-art refinery set up by Ambani at Jamnagar in Gujarat would stand as a monument for him.

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