The Indo-Japanese ties just got stronger at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2009. After Nano coming to Gujarat it seems that another small car is likely to follow suit. Internet Research Institute Inc is planning to set up a electric car manufacturing unit in India and has started due deligence in the direction, said a top source close to the development. A slew of Japanese companies seem to be giving final touches to their plans of investments in Gujarat.
Meanwhile companies like Nissan, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Chemicals are also eyeing investments in the state, the source added. While TeamIndian signed an MoU for setting up a five star hotel in the country, Marubeni group, a diversified conglomerate with diversified interests ranging from ports, energy and steel is also looking at investing in the state, the source added.
Mitsubishi Chemicals is scouting the state for various projects especially along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), he added. Earlier a delegation of about 600 was to attend the Summit, however following the Mumbai terror attack, about 60 delegates attended the meet. "It is really surprising that so many Japanese still agreed to attend the meet," he said.
Hiroshi Fujiwara, a prominent researcher and inventor and founder CEO of IRI was present at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. IRI is mainly into internet research however, it got into electric car manufacturing some time ago. Fujiwara is member of Ministry of Internatio al Trade and Industry for internet protocol. He is also researching and developing the next generation of electrical flow with effecient technology.
"IRI is aiming to set up their second manufacturing unit here in Gujarat," the source added. Nano has become very popular in Japan especially with its $ 2000 price tag, said Gajendra Pantawane, operations director of Japan based Creative Co Ltd. The company signed MoU with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for 'refused paper plastic wood fuel' project.
The project envisages to convert waste into fuel which can be used for power generation as substitute to coal. The initial project cost would be Rs 110 crore after the success of which the company aims to cover 6-7 cities at a projected cost of Rs 700 crore.
"While the carbon emmission from coal is 2.409 per tonne, from RPPWF it's only 0.896. While every kg of coal coal can generate about 19-22 M Joule, here its 26 M Joule," Pantawane added. The unit will initially have capacity of about 5.5 tonnes per hour or over 110 tonnes per day and will be ramped up eventually.
