New Delhi, July 15: The day after Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani called on him, the Prime Minister’s Office has denied that Manmohan Singh is involved in “corporate affairs”.

The CPM had issued a statement asking the PMO to stop being the “conciliation office for warring corporates, however desperate the ruling party may be to retain power”.

“The corporate houses are openly in the fray to lobby their interests in the run-up to the confidence vote. A dangerous precedent has been set with the PM being asked to personally intervene to mediate between the two Ambani brothers,” the government’s former ally had alleged.

Sanjaya Baru, the Prime Minister’s media adviser, today said Singh met corporate leaders “all the time to discuss national economic issues” as any leader of a modern economy would. “The people of India know Manmohan Singh better than to believe that he would get involved in corporate affairs.”

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who had sought Singh’s intervention in resolving the dispute between the Ambani brothers, said tonight: “The statement of the PM is final. If he does not see any role, it is fine.”

Sources said the Prime Minister had unpublicised meetings with four CEOs, including that of Nokia, in the past week.

Singh also met senior journalists of television news channels and outlined steps the government had taken to sustain the growth momentum and curb inflation despite the global oil pressure.

A release issued by the PMO said: “He also referred to the various initiatives taken by the government to make the growth process socially inclusive, including the measures taken to insulate the poor to the extent possible from inflation. He outlined the initiatives being taken to boost agricultural production and farmers’ welfare.”