LONDON, AUGUST 03, 2004
PTI

Two prominent non-resident Indians figure among the 25 most powerful people in business in Europe, a leading business magazine has said.

Arun Sarin, 49, chief executive officer of Britain's Vodafone, the world's largest wireless company is at the seventh place, while steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, chief of LNM, is listed as 15th among Europe's Power25 - the most powerful people in business, according to the latest issue of Forbes .

Vodafone last year generated 15 billion dollars in free cash flow, although it recorded a net loss for the year of 15.3 billion dollars, on revenue of 56.8 billion dollars, the magazine said.

"CEO for just a year, Sarin spent the first part of his career in Silicon Valley at Airtouch, InfoSpace, and former Baby Bell Pacific Telesis Group. He is part of an Indian diaspora that is rising to lead banks and tech companies in Europe and the US. But Sarin has the major challenge of bringing life to long-awaited 3G broadband service for mobile phones," the magazine said.

54-year-old Lakshmi Mittal, truly global steel producer, commands a 12 billion dollar steel empire that stretches from a former state-owned steel mill in Kazakhstan through Europe and Africa to operations in the US, Forbes said.

"LNM is now the world's second-largest steel manufacturer after Arcelor of Luxembourg, and Mittal is still hunting for more acquisitions. His indispensable work tool: a private jet that clocks 350,000 miles each year," it said.