Taiwanese machine tools makers keen to expand in India

Buoyed by the improving business sentiment here, Taiwanese companies, notably those from the machine tool industry, are firming up plans to invest in manufacturing facilities in the country.
The move comes in the wake of the strong bilateral trade, which swelled to USD 6 billion in 2014, while number of Taiwanese companies rose to over 70 since 2013.
Over the weekend, the Taiwanese firm Foxconn, which is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, announced USD 5 billion investments in Maharashtra over the next five years. The company has also announced another USD 3 billion investment in manufacturing in Andhra and elsewhere.

Taiwan was among top five machine tool suppliers in 2014 in India, and is expected to go up this year as well.
"We are extremely keen on supporting the make-in-India programme," Taipei Economic and Cultural Center's executive director Guann-Jyh Lee said in a statement.
"As the backbone of manufacturing, the machine tools industry has the potential to play a catalysing role in manufacturing here," he added.

Lee indicated that Taiwanese companies can offer their machine tools in a broad spectrum of industries spanning aeroplanes, automobiles, watches, computers, auto ancillary, wind turbine parts, medical equipment and precision mould and help fuel India's growth.

The government has unveiled its plan to increase the share of manufacturing in the GDP to 25 per cent by 2022 from 16 per cent now and create 100 million new jobs.
The government has identified 25 sectors, including automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharma, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality, wellness, and railways where India can become a world leader.