Japanese firms ready to cook up a storm

At present, Japan invests a little over $6 bn in India per annum

Around 10 major Japanese food processing companies have shown interest in either investing in India or sourcing raw materials from here through contract farming or otherwise.

The names include Ise Foods, Marubeni Corporation, Kagome and House Foods Groups. There is also interest for establishing mega egg processing units and importing high-quality machines for mechanised deboning of chicken.

Officials said the assurance to either invest in India or expand the sourcing came during a meeting between the companies and the Indian government, represented by food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Tokyo on Thursday. 

“As compared to Western countries which are more interested in