15 Japanese companies to invest in Gujarat

As many as fifteen Japanese firms would sign agreements to invest in Gujarat during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit, while the state would also get a cheaper loan for infrastructure development from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the government announced today.

According to Gujarat Chief Secretary, J N Singh, 15 Japanese companies are keen to invest in Gujarat and will be signing agreements with the state government during the 12th Indo-Japanese annual summit in Gandhinagar on Thursday.

The summit will be held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Abe, who will begin his two-day state visit from tomorrow.

Some of these companies include Moresco, Toyoda Gosei, Topre and Murakami.

"These firms will invest in Gujarat during the next one month, for which MoUs will be signed during the summit," Singh told reporters here today.

According to D Thara, vice-president and managing director of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), total 17-18 agreements to be signed during the summit, 15 will be between Japanese firms and the GIDC.

"Fifteen Japanese companies have already committed to invest in Gujarat, for which they've started the process of purchasing land from GIDC. These 15 companies will sign MoUs with GIDC during the summit," Thara told PTI.

She further said the quantum of investment by these firms will be disclosed later.

A day after the two-day visit ends, a high-level delegation of the representatives from 55 other Japanese firms would visit several industrial clusters in the state.

"Officials of 55 Japanese companies will visit the industrial clusters at Mandal and Sanand talukas of Ahmedabad, as they want to have a first-hand information about the infrastructure before deciding to invest," she added.

Singh said that apart from these agreements, a memorandum of cooperation will be signed between Gujarat government and JICA for the development of infrastructure sector in the state, including the development of Alang shipyard in Bhavnagar.

"JICA is offering loan to the state government at a cheaper rate for the development of infrastructure. This loan would also be utilised for the development of Alang shipyard. We will sign a memorandum of cooperation with JICA during the summit in this regard," said Singh.

Both Modi and Abe are expected to land at Ahmedabad tomorrow. They are scheduled to take part in the Indo-Japanese Annual Summit in Gandhinagar the next day after laying the foundation stone for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train project.