PM Modi meets top Japanese biz leaders

Modi in Japan

- Invites Uniqlo CEO to take part in PM-Mitra scheme; Suggests Japanese clothing brand to explore PLI advantage for setting up textiles manufacturing units in India

- Meets NEC head; Highlights India's reform trajectory

- Discusses with Softbank chief Masayoshi Son on Indian tech, energy, finance and R&D sectors

- Pitches India for EV making, recycling centers; Meets Suzuki Motor Corp Advisor Osamu Suzuki

Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met several Japanese business leaders in Tokyo, Japan, where he is scheduled to attend a host of programmes, including the Quad summit, with leaders of the fellow member states: Australia, Japan and the United States.

On the first day of his visit he met, Nobuhiro Endo, the head of Japanese multinational information technology electronic giant NEC Corporation.

Modi "highlighted India's reform trajectory. He talked about opportunities in areas such as digital learning, FinTech, infra and logistics networks," PMO India tweeted. The Prime Minister appreciated NEC's role in India's telecommunication sector, especially in undertaking Chennai-Andaman & Nicobar Islands (CANI) and Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) OFC projects, MEA said in a statement. He also highlighted investment opportunities under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

"They discussed various reforms being undertaken to enable ease of doing business in India including in industrial development, taxation and labour," the statement said. "They also discussed opportunities in India in new and emerging technologies." Endo spoke about opportunities in India in areas such as smart cities, emerging technologies and an innovative effort to encourage learning of Japanese in India.

In another major development, he also met Softbank Corporation founder and CEO Masayoshi Son to discuss the Japanese investment firm's future participation in Indian technology, energy, finance and R&D sectors.

"Further propelling Japanese investments in India...PM @narendramodi met Founder @SoftBank_Group Masayoshi Son and commended Softbank's role in India's startup sector," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. Bagchi further said, "Discussions focused on Softbank's future participation in India in technology, energy, finance, R&D, etc". The Prime Minister is in Japan on a two-day visit to attend a summit of the Quad leaders at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. SoftBank is one of the major investors in startups in India and has backed large ventures, such as Paytm and Policybazaar, which are now listed on the Indian stock markets. It has also invested in other startups such as Oyo Hotels & Homes, Delhivery and Unacademy, among others. PM Modi met Suzuki Motor Corporation Advisor Osamu Suzuki to discuss opportunities in investment, innovation, manufacturing of electric vehicles (EV), and recycling centres in India.

"In a meeting with Advisor @suzukicojp Osamu Suzuki, PM @narendramodi appreciated Suzuki's transformational role in India's automotive industry," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. In the meeting, they "discussed opportunities for investment, innovation, manufacturing EVs, recycling centres in India", Bagchi said. Prime Minister Modi is in Japan on a two-day visit to attend a summit of the Quad leaders at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. In March this year, Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that it would invest around 150 billion yen (about Rs 10,445 crore) by 2026, for local manufacturing of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and batteries in Gujarat.

The company's wholly-owned arm Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt Ltd (SMG) would invest Rs 7,300 crore for the construction of a plant for BEV batteries on land neighbouring SMG's existing plant by 2026. Also, SMG will invest another Rs 3,100 crore for increasing production capacity for BEV manufacturing by 2025. Another group firm Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India Pvt Ltd (MSTI) will invest Rs 45 crore in the construction of a vehicle recycling plant by 2025. Last year in November, MSTI -- the joint venture between the Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Group -- commenced operations of the vehicle dismantling and recycling unit at Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The facility, spread over 10,993 square metres, has a capacity to scrap and recycle over 24,000 ELVs (end of life vehicles) annually. In November 2019, the two partners announced a joint venture for setting up the vehicle scrapping and recycling unit.

Modi also met the CEO of Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo to discuss investment opportunities for the retailer in textile manufacturing in India.

"Boosting India's textile sector. PM @narendramodi met CEO of Fast Retailing, the parent company of @UNIQLO_JP, Tadashi Yanai," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. "Discussed Uniqlo's growing presence in India and investment opportunities for textile manufacturing in India under PLI scheme."

While Yanai appreciated the entrepreneurial zeal of the people of India, Modi asked him "to take part in the PM-Mitra scheme aimed at further strengthening the textiles sector," PMO India tweeted.

The PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme is aimed at developing textile parks through a special purpose vehicle owned by the central and state government and in a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Each park will have an incubation centre, a common processing house and a common effluent treatment plant and other textile related facilities, such as design centres and testing centres. The Master Developer is not just required to develop the industrial park, but also maintain it during the concession period.