Haryana’s industry scene is a ‘mini-Japan’

CHANDIGARH - The runaway success of India’s biggest car manufacturer Maruti-Suzuki has led other Japanese companies to invest over Rs.4,282 crore ($938 million) in Haryana over the years.

Haryana has emerged as a favoured destination for Japanese majors to invest, given the proximity of the state’s national capital region (NCR) belt to New Delhi.

A ‘mini-Japan’ of sorts already exists on the state’s industrial front. There are about 2,000 Japanese nationals working in units in Haryana. Some of them shuttle between Japan and India. Most of them live in Gurgaon and Delhi. And the state is even planning to set up a Japanese township.

The story scripted by Maruti-Suzuki in the automobile sector in over 25 years through its plant in Haryana’s Gurgaon and nearby areas is not an isolated instance.

The big names that have lined up over the years to invest in Haryana include automobile giant Suzuki, Honda, Canon, Yakult, Denso, Mitsubishi, Toyo, Daikin, Yokohama, Showa, Nippon, Kansai Paints, Asahi and Stanley.

“In fact, impressed by the success of their venture in Gurgaon, Osamu Suzuki of Suzuki Motor Company had committed that every penny that Suzuki would invest in India would be in Haryana. True to his word all Suzuki investments have been in Haryana only,” Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who led a trade delegation to Japan in 2005, recounted.

Besides the massive manufacturing plant in Gurgaon, Maruti-Suzuki has come up with another manufacturing plant at Manesar, 50 km from Delhi.

Hooda said Haryana has a considerable presence of Japanese MNCs.

“Haryana has always been a preferred investment destination for them in India. The state has so far received an investment of Rs.4,282 crore (23 billion Yen) from Japanese MNCs,” Hooda told IANS.

Japanese investment constitutes more than 33 percent of the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received in the state so far.

Senior officials of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (HSIIDC) say the Japanese investment has come through 192 collaborations, both technical (97) and financial (95).

Hooda said HSIIDC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a consortium of Japanese companies, comprising Toshiba, Tokyo Gas and NEC, for building ‘Smart Communities’ or ‘Eco-Cities’ along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) region - the country’s showpiece for futuristic developmental model.

“Opportunities exist for the Japanese investors in development of infrastructure under the initiatives of DMIC, Global Economic Corridor along the KMP (Kundli-Manesar-Palwal) Expressways and other initiatives by the various departments in social sectors and for setting up of industrial units,” the chief minister said.

Touted as one of the most industrialised states in the country, Haryana has attracted an investment of Rs.53,000 crore ($12 bn) in recent years. An investment of another Rs.100,000 crore ($24 bn) is in the pipeline.

Having attracted investment running into millions of dollars from Japanese industry, the Haryana government has announced that it would set up a Japanese township in the state. The Japanese township would be set up near Madina village in Rohtak district, 60 km from New Delhi, along National Highway No. 10.

The assurance to this effect was given by Hooda to Canon India Pvt. Ltd. president and CEO Kensaku Konishi to mark the achievement of the company’s Rs.10 billion annual turnover in India.

Canon’s India headquarters is situated in Gurgaon in Haryana, adjoining national capital New Delhi.

(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)