Investments in India will increase: Japan Consul General

Number of Japanese companies investing in India has been steadily going up and there is more scope for investments especially in the manufacturing sectors, Consul General of Japan Kazuo Minagawa said.    

He added there was more scope for investments in outsourcing as young talents "both in the terms of skilled labourers and engineers" were available in India.    

Addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (Madurai) members yesterday, he said though the Mumbai terrorists attack affected to some extent the tourists inflow from Japan, it did not have any impact on industrial investment.    

According to him, Tamil Nadu was one of the safest destinations in terms of availability of infrastructure facility, skilled manpower and good manufacturing practices. Already there were 180 Japanese companies in Tamil Nadu and of them 155 were located in Chennai.    

But there was scope for industries to come to other parts of the state as the land cost was going up here.    

Stating that he was very much impressed by the industries in Coimbatore, he said the tier two cities also had opportunities for investments.    

Nissan company's Urangadam project near Chennai, in 630 acres of land, would be completed by next year and they would be outsourcing 90 per cent of their requirements from small and medium companies.    

"Automobile industries in Tamil Nadu have vast potential for growth, as big companies including Honda, Toyota and Suzuki have set their facilities here," he added.

On tourism potential, Minagawa said there was need to popularise South India and its great places like Mahabalipuram.

Japanese normally come to South India only for learning yoga and for ayurvedic treatment. For sightseeing they visit North Indian destinations.   

He added there was vast scope for export of sea food and herbal plants from Tamil Nadu.