Many Japanese investment projects delayed in India: Japan's minister

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Many investment projects in India have been delayed, and support of the Indian government is vital to restore them, Japan's vice-minister for economy, trade and industry said on Wednesday. Japan's Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hirose Naoshi at the CII Partnership Summit said that India needs to maintain openness to the international market to attract foreign direct investments and provide an attractive business environment.

"Japanese companies have more than 200 exciting investment plans in India, including factories construction and production line expansion. However, many of them have been delayed or postponed. Support from the Indian government is vital to restore these investment projects," Naoshi said.

There is a widely shared perspective that India is no longer just a market but also an export base. However, attracting foreign direct investments is highly competitive in the global economy, he added.

"…for foreign companies to select India as an investment destination for export, it is very important to provide an attractive business environment.

“It is also necessary to provide inputs and parts since not all inputs will be available domestically. Therefore, there is a need for India to maintain openness to the international market in order to improve its position in the global supply chain," Naoshi said.

India has set a target of self-reliant India to play an important role in the global supply chain and is making efforts to attract investments with the launch of a production-linked incentive scheme, he added.

"I expect the India Japan Industrial Competitiveness partnership will contribute to self-reliant India and make in India initiative," Naoshi said.

He also noted that cooperation between Japan and India is not limited to bilateral relationships.

"It goes without saying that in the modern world it is not realistic to be self-reliant on the economy. We need to avoid over-dependence on some source of the market and ensure that the supply chain will function efficiently even in emergency situations," Naoshi said.

Ambassador of Japan to India Satoshi Suzuki said that due to COVID-19 restrictions, the global supply chain was severely impacted, leading to the high cost of procurement, shortage of semiconductors and hike in oil prices that has hit manufacturing and sales in many countries, but the Indian economy continued to expand.

"Japan has attached high importance to the partnership with India - the largest democracy in the world," Suzuki said.

He said more than 1,400 Japanese companies have invested in India.

"Despite the various challenges in the global economy, approximately 70 per cent of 281 Japanese companies which have already invested in India, responded that they are poised to expand their business activities in India in the coming 1 or 2 years. This is yet another positive sign of expectation that Japanese companies have in India," Suzuki said.

He said that considering the actual potential of India, the investments of Japanese companies have not met expectations yet.

"For more investments to come to India from Japan, it is indispensable for the government of India to take a lead to further improve the business environment by ensuring predictability and stability," Suzuki said.

Tata Communications managing director and CEO Amur S Lakshminarayanan said that India and Japan believe digital innovation fosters a better future, and going 'Digital' is the bedrock of Japan's progress towards Society 5.0.

"We connect Japan to the East, West and Guam via Tata Communication Global Network or TGN. In fact, we are currently further investing in a 9,400-kilometre-long cable that is expected to carry commercial traffic.

“This high-capacity cable will support bandwidth-intensive applications driven by technological advancements in 5G, Cloud Platforms, IoT and AI," Lakshminarayanan said.