People Business: Starring Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission; R.H. Patil and H. Patil, Jalgaon farmers; Tomasso Cavalli, Promoter, Roberto Cavalli Vodka; Y.V. Reddy, Former RBI Governor; Prasoon Joshi, Executive Chairman, McCann Erickson Worldgroup India; Anshul Singhal, President, Commercial, JSW Severfield Structures

Great escape?At the recent summit of G20 leaders in Seoul, South Korea, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, seemed at home in a way he never appears at Yojana Bhavan. Now we may know why. Ahluwalia could return to the International Monetary Fund or IMF - this time as its head. He was the first Director of the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office, from 2001 to 2004. According to a New York Times report, Ahluwalia,67, is among four notables from the developing world who are being mentioned as a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the IMF Managing Director. It is no secret that the Oxford-educated Ahluwalia is not the favourite of the states as the plan panel's Deputy Chairman. But he has earned the respect of world leaders and the sobriquet of "wise economist". Life as the IMF chief will not be easy. China is questioning the Fund's independence, and Ahluwalia could be the first non-European to head it. But India's political economy has fettered him. Ahluwalia recently told BT that many ministries do not make use of the exhaustive critiques the Planning Commission puts out. If Ahluwalia gets the job, he will only be too happy to head West. Few, apart from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will miss him in India.