Tokyo. India is the first choice on paper for Japan, Thailand for factories. Although India tops the list of preferred destinations for Japanese companies for the fourth consecutive year with 61.8% votes, there are 1,400 Japanese companies in India while 6,000 in Thailand.
The investment target increased from 3.5 lakh crore yen (Rs 2.10 lakh crore) to 10 lakh crore yen (Rs 6 lakh crore) in 11 years, the count of companies did not increase. The promises of money did not work, so this time the government is taking 220 Indian industrialists directly to the doors of Japanese factories. This team led by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal (Piyush Goyal Japan visit) will remain in Japan from Monday to August 27. The strategy is understood from the tour map. The money is in Tokyo, but the companies setting up factories are not there.
Japan's real manufacturing power lies in the thousands of medium-sized companies in Aichi and Kansai that supply parts to larger companies. When a Japanese company goes anywhere, it takes a whole bunch of suppliers with it. That is why for the first time India itself has gone to them instead of waiting. The Indian team will hold road shows with Chukeiren and Nagoya Chamber in Nagoya and will connect with regional industry in Osaka and Kyoto.
Round table meeting on semiconductor, electronics and AI
In this program the emphasis is on understanding or knowing the machine. There is one roundtable on semiconductors, AI and electronics, another on capital goods, machinery and vehicle industry. The purpose of the visit is to increase two-way investment. In this sequence, it is also important for Indian companies to go to Japan, where currently there are only 100 Indian companies.
India is not just a buyer…
The team includes the head of Reliance's industrial city Met City, which sells land to Japanese companies. There is Maruti Suzuki, there is Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals, there are insurance and asset management companies looking for cheap pension capital in Japan, and there is a whole host of startups for which there will be a separate meeting in Tokyo.
Who all is in the team?
Anant Goenka, Vice President, RPG Group, Nirmal Kumar Minda, Assocham, Vineet Aggarwal, TCI, Sumant Sinha, Renew Power, Gitanjali Vikram Kirloskar, Kirloskar Systems, Jalaj Dani, Adverb Tech, Vikram Chopra, Cars24, Rajendra Kumar, Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals, Rahul Bharti, Maruti Suzuki, Upasana Taku, Mobikwik, Julius, Newspace Research. Amrit, Sandeep Sikka of Nippon Life India Asset Management, Shrivallabh Goyal of Reliance Met City, Ayush Aggarwal of Snabit, Abhay Tiwari of Star Union Dai-ichi Life and Shweta Rajpal Kohli of SPF. There are names from every sector including automobiles, auto parts, engineering, chemicals, petrochemicals, technology and startups.