Japan may expand infrastructure investment in India

Japanese investors are excited after the new government has promised faster decision-making and emphasis on has emphasis on infrastructure in India, and they are ready to bank roll and provide expertise to develop India’s physical infrastructure. Japan’s Ambassador to India Takeshi Yagi, along with representatives from that country’s development agencies, met department of industrial policy and promotion secretary Amitabh Kant on Friday to discuss investment plans in India, particularly in various infrastructure corridors.
The meeting was part of a mutual effort to give a thrust to Japanese investment in India, Kant told ET. The two sides assessed how the government can work together with agencies such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for speedier implementation of projects in hand and thereby bringing in more investment, he said to media. “We discussed and reviewed the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Chennai Bangalore Industrial Corridor.” The meeting was attended by representatives from Japanese organisations JICA, JBIC, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India, Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association, and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, besides Madhya Pradesh commerce and industry minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia. “The MP minister also wanted to provide impetus to DMIC in her state,” Kant added.
The BJP, which is set to form the next government on Monday, in its election manifesto had talked about building 100 new cities besides making world-class investment and industrial regions as global hubs of manufacturing. While India has been wary of Chinese investment, the comfort level is much high when it comes to Japan, and it is very visible in foreign direct investment numbers. Japan is the fourth biggest foreign investor in India, contributing about 8% to the total FDI inflows. It brought $1.7 billion in fiscal 2013-14, and $16.2 billion between 2000 and 2014. In contrast, FDI from China is $0.4 billion since 2000. The close ties between the countries were also visible when Japan expanded its currency-swap arrangement with India to $50 billion from $15 billion last year, contributing to New Delhi’s efforts to arrest the rupee’s free fall. About 60% of Japanese presence in the country is in the manufacturing sector. Big Japan-funded projects in India include the ongoing DMIC and the Delhi Metro. The Japanese are also in talks to build a road network in the Northeast.
The Japanese government has approved $4.5 billion for non-commercial projects through JICA and commercial lending through JBIC, which has 26% equity in DMIC. Besides, Japan has also committed a loan of $2 billion for the Delhi Metro. The two sides are also integrating on the Chennai Bangalore Industrial Corridor. India and Japan are widely expected to forge even stronger ties under the incoming Narendra Modi government. “India’s relationship with neighbours in the East is likely to improve tremendously. Modi is pro foreign investment and will help in attracting technology and boost manufacturing. Japan is a huge stakeholder in DMIC, with larger zones in BJP-run states, be it Rajasthan or Gujarat, which will strengthen bilateral ties,” said Arpita Mukherjee, professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. According to her, it is the corporate confidence which will drive up investments further, which will mean carrying out reforms.

Right on time - Casio

Casio India Limited, a subsidiary of Casio Computer Co, Japan, has launched its range of Edifice Era-300 chronograph watches in India. Features include a compass, temperature display, and neon illumination.

Price: Rs 19, 995

Isuzu to expand India dealer network, launches pick-up trucks

Japan's Isuzu Motors aims to expand its dealer network in India six-fold to about 60 outlets in the country by the end of the next financial year.

The company, which opened its first dealership in North India in Delhi today, also launched three variants of pick-up trucks under the D-Max range in the National Capital Region at an introductory price of Rs 5.89 lakh, Rs 6.09 lakh and Rs 6.99 lakh (ex-showroom NCR).

"The Delhi outlet is our 10th dealership in the country. We plan to expand the number to 60 by the end of 2015-16 to increase our presence in the country," Isuzu Motors India Managing Director Takashi Kikuchi told reporters here.

The company will add dealerships in Noida, Jaipur and Ludhiana by the end of this financial year. It plans to open outlets in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Kanpur and Udaipur by the end of next year.

"We are extremely happy to open our first outlet in North India. North is an important region for us, contributing to around 30 per cent of total pick-up sales in the country," Kikuchi said.

The company, which is setting up a manufacturing plant in the country at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, aims to start production at the facility in 2016.

"To begin with, we will start with a production capacity of 50,000 units and later scale it up to over 1 lakh units per annum," Kikuchi said.

Currently, the company produces the pick-up range at Hindustan Motors' Chennai facility.

Kyoto to Kundapura

Art student Megumi Sakakida Deepak loved the taste of Indian food she ate at the restaurant she worked in, in Japan. It brought her all the way here in an affair of art, food, coconut chutney, and marriage

Look what food can do! It brought Megumi Sakakida from Kyoto to Kundapura in her quest for the sound of the Kannada language she liked hearing, and a desire to meet its people, explore its culture, and of course, food.

“I was working in an Indian restaurant called Kerala in Kyoto, Japan. Two of the chefs were from Karnataka — one from Karkala and one from Kundapura. They taught me about Indian food and culture and I was fascinated by India. I decided to travel here, and toured south India in 2009 and 2010; I visited Bangalore, Karkala and Kundapura. If Kyoto is my fist home, Kundapura is my second. I was very comfortable here, and it felt like home. So I decided to come back here and become a part of India,” smiles Megumi, dressed in a colourful salwar-kameez, two braids, and wearing a mangalasutra! She can now speak fairly good Kannada and has even been learning the written script.

She talks of the next leg of her India sojourn. She had completed her bachelor of visual arts in Japan, and decided to join Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath for a Masters programme. Many in Japan advised her to join Shantiniketan (West Bengal), but Megumi was keen to join the Parishath because she wanted to learn Kannada! During her student says in Bangalore she attended Kannada classes every Saturday. She had met many Kannadigas and wanted to speak with them in Kannada. “Learning Kannada was not so hard because I found the grammar similar to Japanese. Some words are also similar. Kannada script is very cute looking; it has round characters.” She went “home” to Kundapura for holidays.

During her art course, she met and married classmate Deepak, from Kushalnagar, Coorg. After completing her course, she started working with a Japanese firm as a consultant for Japanese tourists wanting to visit south India. Her parents were initially surprised at the decision of their only child. They however, let her be, because she was happy. Moreover, technology has made keeping in touch easy, she says.

As a beautiful convergence of her love for a new culture, and her art, she has put together a series of artworks “Nanna Bharateya Jeevana”, which looks straight out of a graphic novel panel. It started off as a way of documenting the food she ate, drawing out the dish, writing its name in Japanese and Kannada. “I can see each culture through its food,” she explains. She lists neer dosa, ragi mudde, and rava idli as her favourite foods. Rice, she says is the connecting factor between the two food cultures.

“I couldn’t express myself very well in words, so I wanted to paint my feelings.” Her work titled Nanna Kanasu shows her wearing bindi, flowers in her hair, and, a mangalasutra. “I had attended many Indian weddings and I was dreaming about getting married in India,” she laughs. There’s a lovely sketch in her series of a bride and groom titled “Ganda-Hendati” (husband-wife).

“I’m interested in the food culture here. I love the plantain leaf. We eat very differently in Japan. We never mix rice and curry — it’s always one bite of rice and one bite of curry, separately, and with chopsticks. We don’t have the concept of vegetarian food. The vegetables are in the meat dishes!”

Her other food fascination, is coconut. “We only get dry coconut in Japan.” So when her best friend Shobha (the chef’s daughter) got married in Kundapura, Megumi lived with them for a month, partaking of all the preparations and rituals , from painting the house, shopping for saris and gifts, picking coconuts from the farm and carrying them on her head home. “I grated 50 coconuts for the wedding. At the end of it, my hands were bleeding!”

All these find their way into her art and there’s a cute depiction of her sitting across the eelige mane with a mound of green coconuts behind her, furiously grating. Another painting illustrates in detail the recipe for coconut chutney; Megumi says she loves the taste of coconut.

In All her artworks features is a little white dog. “It is ‘nanna manassu’ (my heart),” she explains, because I feel shy to show myself in my pictures, so I use the dog as a symbol.”

“It was difficult to get a job in the art field in Japan. That’s why after my course, I joined the restaurant. I would help cut vegetables and serve food. That’s how I got to try Indian food. I ate my first masala dosa when I was 21.” She comes back full circle, back to her restaurant days in Japan. “I want to say thank you to India. It changed my life. When I graduated in Japan, there was no hope for my life. Everything looked bleak. I hated living in Japan. But after coming to India things became colourful and exciting. Now I also appreciate Japan better.”

She breaks so often into Kannada, it’s surprising. “I hope I’ve become a Kannadiga,” she says, with a sweet wide smile spread between her two braids. With earnest zeal like that, she leaves no doubt in your heart.

You can see Megumi’s paintings at the Rangoli Metro Art Centre, MG Road Boulevard. The exhibition is on view till June 8.

Panasonic launches new window ACs in India, targets small town buyers

Japan's electronic major Panasonic said it has ventured into the window air-conditioner segment in a bid to expand consumer base in
the hinterlands and small towns.
Panasonic, which is aiming to capture up to 8 per cent (value basis) of the AC market this season, has re-entered into the segment with the entry-level models, the company said in a statement.

Its window AC line up is already available in the market in variants of 1, 1.5 and 2 tonnes, ranging from Rs 24,990 to Rs 39,490.

Its window AC line up is already available in the market in variants of 1, 1.5 and 2 tonnes, ranging from Rs 24,990 to Rs 39,490.
"The consumption pattern in these areas is shifting from necessities to discretionary goods and the consumers have been showing a great appetite for consumer durables.
"Window ACs have strong potential demand from rural India and smaller towns since the first time buyers in these markets essentially prefer window ACs as they want a low cost product with simpler features," the company said.
After this addition, Panasonic would now cater to different audiences with its offerings.
Commenting on the development, Panasonic India and South Asia Managing Director Manish Sharma said: "We want to give our consumers a wide choice of products to choose from and make available products that suit their requirements in context to their economic and demographic limitations".
Panasonic grew 5 per cent in terms of value, he said.
"We are hopeful that year 2014 will definitely open up a plethora of new opportunities and we are expecting the market also to grow by 5 to 8 per cent this year," Sharma added.
It has a network of 700 authorised service centres and over 50 Panasonic service plazas.

Panasonic's window AC line up is already available in the market in variants of 1, 1.5 and 2 tonnes, ranging from Rs 24,990 to Rs 39,490. 

Narendra Modi promises to build 1st bullet train if elected

India will soon begin work on a new bullet train railway network if, as widely expected, Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi becomes prime minister later this week.
Modi highlighted his support for bullet trains modelled on Japan’s superfast railways in speeches at the start on the long election campaign.

He is planning to accelerate those plans as one of his top priorities if he is made prime minister.
He believes bullet trains could become symbols of a new age of modernisation in India in contrast to the old colonial railway network built during the British Raj.
Indian Railways (IR) today is associated with roof-riding fare-dodgers, while for paying passengers train travel is a grubby experience in carriages often infested with cockroaches and rats.

In a campaign speech in Delhi in January, Modi said India’s railways had been neglected for too long. “We have such a huge rail network, but it is our misfortune that no attention is paid to railways in the country. The change that Japan’s rail system has undergone, it deserves to be applauded.
After all that change occurred because Japan introduced the concept of bullet trains and got the country raised. China also followed that concept.

He said that “We have such a long rail network, but we are not thinking about its modernization.”
He called for new “rail universities” to be opened as centers for engineering innovation and pledged to open four new bullet train routes in time for India to celebrate its 75th anniversary of independence in 2022. Then, he said, the “world will see India from a new perspective”.

Feasibility studies had been done for bullet train routes from Ahmedabad to Pune via Mumbai and Delhi to Amritsar, close to the Pakistan border, via Chandigarh. Building a Bullet Train system will cost three times more than standard Indian rail tracks and carriages and higher fares will mean it will only be affordable for wealthier passengers, R.N Malhotra, a former chairman of the Indian Railway Board, said.

A legend of Indian classic dance comes back to Japan after 26 years

Pandit Birju Maharaj, the king of one of the eight classic dances of India, aims to promote Kathak, or an act of storytelling through dance, during his first visit to Japan in 26 years.

In an interview after performing Sunday in Tokyo, the dancer, composer and choreographer described Kathak as a form of yoga put to music, where the performer also uses gestures and facial expressions to enact stories from Indian mythology.

The 76-year-old dancer, invited by one of his students to introduce the “real” culture of India to Japanese, said Kathak is “an act of yoga, prayer and meditation . . . and is also entertaining”.
“Everyone seeks happiness and peace in this world,” he said. “Music has a big role in providing peace. It distracts you from the outer world for some time and then you are back to the worldly life again.”

The Kathak master is scheduled to give one more dance performance next Sunday in Osaka.