Japanese firms keen to work in industrial, manufacturing clusters: Jetro

Japanese companies are keen to work with their Indian counterparts in the two mega industrial corridors and in the development of manufacturing clusters in South, according to Japanese External Trade Organisation.

Director General, Manufacturing and Environmental Engineering, Jetro, Yasuhide Yamada, said that Japanese companies have begun to work on two manufacturing clusters in Gujarat and Rajasthan partnering Indian companies.

“We are now looking at setting up two more manufacturing clusters in South, possibly in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,’’ he said.

Yamada, who led a high-powered Japanese industrial delegation, which included Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Hioki, Hitachi, Nidec Chuou Kenkyujo, Sketch Co., Ltd and Yagai, recently to Hyderabad, said most of the Japanese companies are keen to partner their Indian counterparts to set up local manufacturing units.

“As a part of this initiative, two clusters are being set up in North and we plan to have similar clusters in South. The new industrial corridors coming up between Mumbai and Delhi along with manufacturing zones and similar corridor in South between Chennai and Bangalore, offer us the opportunity to take part in various aspects of the project. This includes development and also financial support from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA),’’ he said.

During their interaction with Business Line on the sidelines of CII Energy Summit, Yamada said that Jetro’s focus has been on encouraging foreign direct investment into Japan and also facilitating the growth of local companies in other countries.

Referring to the Perform, Achieve and Trade scheme in India that encourages heavy energy consuming industries to improve efficiency, Yamada said that Japanese companies have acquired considerable expertise in this area.

They can offer their expertise and products that could help Indian firms streamline their operations for energy savings, he said.

The bilateral trade between Japan and India, estimated to be $13 billion, is projected to grow to about $25 billion by 2015. Significantly, the trade doubled in the last three years.