India is the springboard for Japanese businesses to Global South: PM Modi

PRime government minister Narendra Modi on fri highlighted bharat’s political and economical stableness and planned economic reforms while pitching the country as a destination for Japanese investments to drive growth in areas ranging from manufacturing and technology to green energy and infrastructure.Modi, who was addressing the India-Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo alongside his counterpart Shigeru Ishiba, said Japan’s excellence and India’s scale can create a perfect partnership. Both PMs emphasised the complementarity between India’s workforce and Japan’s advanced technology.Economic cooperation has assumed centrestage for Modi’s two-day visit to Japan against the backdrop of the uncertainty and geo-economic churn created by the tariff policies of the Trump administration in the US. Both sides are set to unveil a slew of measures, including an economic security initiative, to cope with the changing global economic order.“Today, there is political stability in India. There is economic stability. There is transparency in policies, there is predictability. Today, India is the fastest growing major economy in the world,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi. “India is the springboard for Japanese businesses to the Global South. Together, we will shape the Asian Century for stability, growth and prosperity.”Also Read: In Japan, PM Narendra Modi’s ‘political and economic stability in India’ push after 50% US tariffsIshiba added, “India-Japan relations are making great strides by leveraging India’s growing market in an increasingly uncertain global economy. Building resilient supply chains with reliable partners and ensuring economic security are essential for further economic development.”Pointing to planned economic reforms in India, Modi said work is underway to bring new and major changes to the “one nation-one tax” system launched in 2017. India’s Parliament recently approved a new and simplified income tax code and the government emphasises the ease of doing business through measures such as a single digital window approval for business.“We have rationalised 45,000 compliances. A high-level committee has been formed on de-regulation to speed up this process,” he said. “Sensitive sectors such as defence and space have been opened for the private sector. Now, we are also opening the nuclear energy sector.”Modi noted that Japanese companies have invested more than $40 billion dollars in India, including $13 billion dollars in the past two years, and suggested areas such as manufacturing, technology and innovation, green energy transition, next-gen infrastructure and skilling as potential areas for Japanese investments.India and Japan, he said, can replicate their successful partnership in manufacturing in the auto sector in batteries, robotics, semiconductors, ship-building and nuclear energy. Describing Japan as a “tech powerhouse” and India as a “talent powerhouse”, he said the two countries can lead the revolution in technology and innovation in areas such as AI, quantum computing and biotech.“Together, we can make a significant contribution to the development of the Global South, especially Africa,” Modi said. “I urge all of you - come, make in India, make for the world. The success stories of Suzuki and Daikin can become your success stories too.”With India setting targets for generating 500 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 and 100 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2047, there is potential for collaboration in solar cells and green hydrogen. Japan’s excellence and India’s scale can create a perfect partnership in next generation mobility and logistics infrastructure, he said, noting that the capacity of India’s ports had doubled in the past decade and India and Japan are jointly working on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail project.In the field of skill development, India’s skilled workers have the capability to meet global needs. “Japan can also benefit from this. You train Indian talent in Japanese language and soft skills, and together prepare a ‘Japan-ready’ workforce. A shared workforce will lead to shared prosperity,” Modi said.Ishiba noted that the strategic partnership between India and Japan is based on shared values and trust, and bilateral cooperation has extended across the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, Africa and Europe. “The signing of numerous cooperation documents between our companies demonstrates Japan’s firm commitment to further investment in India and strengthening collaboration. It is clear evidence that we are steadily building a robust support chain centred on our two nations,” he said.Japan and India, Ishiba said, “share the goal of seeing the Japanese Shinkansen train run across Indian soil”, and many companies are working on the construction of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail. Japan’s Suzuki and Toyota are undertaking major new investments in India, while Suzuki and Isuzu Motors have developed products in India for the global market.Japanese firms such as Tokyo Electron, Renesas and Fujifilm are actively supporting India’s efforts to emerge as a future hub for semiconductor manufacturing and design, and cooperation is underway in other spheres of technology and innovation such as batteries, AI, space and clean energy, Ishiba said.Major recent investments in India by Japanese firms include Nippon Steel’s ₹15 billion expansion in Gujarat, and a ₹56 billion integrated steel plant in Andhra Pradesh, Suzuki Motor’s ₹350 billion new plant in Gujarat and Toyota Kirloskar’s ₹33 billion expansion in Karnataka and a ₹200-billion new plant in Maharashtra.