New Delhi: Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, steel magnate L N Mittal and Pepsi chief Indra Nooyi are among the 20 global business leaders and economists of Indian origin who will advise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on key socio-economic developmental issues facing the nation.

Government today announced constitution of the “Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council”, a day ahead of the prestigious ‘Parvasi Bharatiya Divas´ beginning in Chennai tomorrow.

The Council, headed by the Prime Minister, will “serve as institutionalised dialogue mechanism between the diaspora community and the highest levels of Government”, Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Deepak Sandhu said in a statement.

Other prominent personalities on the Council are Jagdish Bhagwati, Karan F Bilimoria, Swadesh Chatterjee, Rajat Gupta, Ela Gandhi, Renu Khator, Lord Khalid Hameed, Kishore Mahbubani, P N C Menon, Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh, C K Prahlad, Tam Sri Dato Ajit Singh, Vikram Pandit, Sam Pitroda, Shashi Tharoor, Srinivasa S R Vardhan and Yusuf Alio.

The Council is being constituted at a time when India like several other economies is coping with the impact of the worst global meltdown since 1929.