The Gujarat government has invited all Fortune 500 companies to participate in the Global Investors' Summit. The summit will begin on September 25 and will be on till October 5.

The state government, by clubbing the summit with Navratri festival, is aiming at attracting a large number of prospective investors to the state.

The state government has chosen ICICI Bank as the financial advisor for the nine-day long event.

"We are still in the process of compiling the list of companies that will participate in the event, but all the Fortune 500 companies have been invited. We expect most of them to turn up," said S A Dula, chief general manager, iNDEXTb, Gujarat.

iNDEXTb is the co-ordinating agency for the Global Investors' Summit. "Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani will inaugurate the festival," Dula added.

It is also learnt that attempts are on to invite Nelson Mandela as the chief guest of the Navratri festival.

According to sources, attempts are also on to rope in Jet Airways for carrying participants from within the country and Air-India for those coming from abroad.

While Reliance Industries has already agreed to sponsor the event, iNDEXTb officials said that there will be many others who will join in as sponsors in various other capacities.

"ICICI Bank will be the financial advisor for the summit, while many others will also join in other events. Sponsoring does not necessarily mean funding events," Dula said.

The state government has created two Web sites -- vibrantgujarat.com and navratrifestival.com -- for the event.

The existing Web sites of the state government and the Gujarat tourism department are also promoting the event.

Inauguration of the festival will take place at the Kankaria lake in Ahmedabad on September 25, while the summit will be held between September 28-30 at NID and Tagore Hall in the city.

An international workshop on post-earthquake reconstruction in Bhuj, a convention on gems, jewellery and textiles in Surat, Gandhi Jayanti celebrations in Porbander (the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi) and guided tours cities like Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Porbander and Mehsana are part of the festival highlights.

According to state government officials, a list of participating companies is being compiled and it should be complete within a fortnight.