Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will inaugurate the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry this year.

The industry association did not ask Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to address the two-day event beginning on April 28, CII sources said.

Last year, Vajpayee did not attend the opening session, which was inaugurated by leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi.

Asked why Vajpayee was not approached, a senior CII official said, "The same person is generally not invited for two consecutive annual general meetings."

Vajpayee had attended the closing ceremony of the annual general meeting last year.

On the first day, the event will focus on the services sector. It will look at international trade in information technology, healthcare and business process outsourcing from an Indian perspective.

There will also be a session on young Indians, from both the corporate and political worlds, whose ideas have made an impact in their respective arenas.

The second day will have a session on the manufacturing sector, which will seek to highlight India's potential as a sourcing base.

There will be another session on the Asianisation of the global film industry.

Arun Jaitley, minister of law, Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of information and broadcasting, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for commerce and industry, N K Singh, member, Planning Commission, Pramod Bhasin, president, GE Capital India, and Sunil Kant Munjal, managing director, Hero Corporate Service Ltd, will be some of the people addressing the various sessions this year.

CK Prahalad, Harvey C Fruehauf Professor of Corporate Strategy, Michigan Business School, will deliver the keynote address at the CII meet.

Last year, the Gujarat riots had cast a shadow on the annual session. Suresh Prabhu, then power minister, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyer of the Congress were among those who spoke at last year's annual general meeting.