Foreign cos exiting India in droves despite policy push
In 2021 alone, 106 foreign firms including Rio Tinto Diamonds, left Indian shores; As many as 2,783 foreign companies shut Indian operations during 2014-21 despite Make In India and other schemes
image for illustrative purpose
Foreign Firms' Emigration
- Each day, one company left India since 2014
- US major Ford became 5th auto company to exit India
- Earlier, MAN Trucks, GM, Harley Davidson and UM Motorcycles closed operations
- Other big names include Siemens Industry Software, Rio Tinto Diamonds, Mitsubishi Logistics Corp, Isuzu Techno and Hyundai L&C Corp
- For instance, Mitsubishi Logistics, Isuzu Techno said they couldn't find more biz opportunities in India
- Some of the reasons cited for leaving India are as amazing as they are amusing
New Delhi: As many as 106 foreign companies stopped their industrial operations in India in 2021. Some of the big names to exit India were Siemens Industry Software NV, Rio Tinto Diamonds NV, Mitsubishi Logistics Corporation, Isuzu Techno Co Ltd, and Hyundai L&C Corporation, official sources told Bizz Buzz.
To put things in perspective, it must be noted that in the entire 2014-21 period, as many as 2,783 foreign companies registered with liaison/branch office/project office and their subsidiaries shut their operations in India. This information was given by Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Parliament in December last year.
This meant that every day, a company left India for the entire period. As compared to that, 106 exits in 2021 did not look very bad. But, at the same time, the situation can't be called good either.
The Narendra Modi government has been keen on promoting industrial growth right from the beginning. It launched the Make in India scheme. It came up with programmes to bolster startups. In order to revive the economy during the Covid pandemic, it also introduced the production-linked incentives scheme, under which thousands of crores of rupees have been spent to trigger industrial growth.
But foreign companies' quit India movement didn't stop. Last year, the US major Ford became the fifth auto company - after MAN Trucks, General Motors, Harley Davidson, and UM Motorcycles - to leave India. Ford and General Motors were big, visible presence in the country, so their exit was noticed and commented upon widely.
Some of the reasons cited for leaving India are as amazing as they are amusing. For instance, Mitsubishi Logistics Corporation closed its liaison office because it could not find more business opportunities in India, sources said. But never before any government in India has ever focused and earmarked expenditure on logistics and infrastructure development as the Modi regime has.
By the way, Isuzu Techno Co Ltd also left India because it could not find more business opportunities in India.
