Relocate your manufacturing base to India: Amitabh Kant tells Japan

MUMBAI: Japanese companies should relocate their manufacturing base to India as this is the "only way" to strengthen bilateral partnership between the two countries, DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant said today.
"You (Japanese companies) have to relocate your manufacturing base into India... This is the only way you can strengthen Japan's and Indian partnership for the future," the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary said at the Make in India Week.

At a special session in the presence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisor, Kant said Japan is an advanced nation and it is too expensive to do manufacturing there.

"You've to capture India and you've to capture the world and the only way you can do it is if you manufacture here," Kant, the CEO-designate of government thinktank NITI Aayog said, assuring full support of the Indian government for it.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said easy availability of capital in Japan and the cheap labour in India are complementary to each other.

Panagariya said Japanese companies present in China may also like to come in India because of the difficulties being faced by the country's northern neighbour.

It can be noted that Japan has given multiple stimuli to the economy and is the only major country in the world where the central bank has negative benchmarking lending rates.

Both Panagariya and Kant said India, the only bright spot in a world plagued with economic uncertainties, presents an exciting opportunity as it is growing at 7.5 per cent at present and will grow at 8-10 per cent over the next two-three decades.

Panagariya said the fourth quarter GDP growth reading is likely to come in at 7.8 per cent, marginally lower than the initially targeted 8 per cent, and this will ensure that we grow at 7.6 per cent for the fiscal, as per the advance estimates.

Kant said the growing urbanisation, which is likely to shoot-up with projects like the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, will present lot of opportunities for Japanese companies who have the know-how to solve many problems like water re-cycling.

He also cited instances where Japanese countries have missed out on opportunities, saying that South Korean electronics majors like Samsung and LG are household names in the country at present.

Even though Japan funded the Delhi Metro project, we used rakes from western manufacturers like Bombardier and Alstom, because Japanese companies do not have manufacturing presence in the country, Kant said.