Gujarat to set up 2nd Japanese Industrial Park ahead of Shinzo Abe's visit

After Chinese auto giant MG Motors chose Gujarat as its manufacturing base for India, a slew of investments from Japan is also expected soon.

Ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in September for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train, Gujarat has planned its second Japanese Industrial Park in the state. Japan is providing $12 billion in a soft loan for the Rs 1 lakh crore bullet train project.

To come up at Sanand, the park will be spread across an area of over 1,000 hectares. The existing Japanese industrial park at Mandal is spread across an area of 100 hectares. Government sources indicated that Rs 1,500 crore investment for Mandal-Becharaji Japan Industrial Park-I has already been committed.

Besides, over Rs 20,000 crore worth of investment is expected to come in at the second industrial park coming up near Sanand. According to M K Das, Principal Secretary, Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat, the state government would be spending around Rs 600 crore for setting up basic infrastructure at the industrial park.

Moreover, plans are also afoot for a residential colony, probably for Japanese expats, at par with Japanese standards.
Gujarat already houses Japanese firms like Maruti Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Nippon and Hitachi, among others. With the DMIC developing and the industrial park coming up, investments in Gujarat are set to rise in near future.

"When our delegation had gone to Japan to promote investment, the firms there were surprised to see the speed of approval in Gujarat. We have already seen several firms evincing interest for the second industrial park," Das told Business Standard.