Japan keen to invest in India's food processing sector: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

NEW DELHI: Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal is meeting executives of top Japanese food processing, manufacturing and retailing companies such as Kagome, Marubeni Corp., Mayekawa Manufacturing, Ise Foods and Isetan Mitsukoshi to attract foreign investment and collaboration in India.

Badal, who has been on a three-day trip to Japan since March 1, met the state minister from the Ministry of Agriculture Ken Saito to discuss investments in the sector.

"Japanese companies are flush with funds and are looking at investing in India. The Japanese are not looking at India as just a large market but also as a manufacturing hub. I am sure we will take food diplomacy to another level," the minister told ET from Tokyo.

Bilateral trade between India and Japan is worth about $14 billion, of which food accounts for $1 billion, said Badal. Japanese food companies are looking to tap this huge opportunity, she added.

According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, foreign direct investment from Japan was $19.4 billion from April 2000 to September 2016, which was about 8% of the total FDI into the country during this period.

“India can be a prospective base and export hub for seafood, cashew and sesame. One of the biggest egg manufacturers of Japan - Ise Foods - is interested in setting up operations in India as the country is third-largest producer of eggs in the world,” said Badal.

The move to showcase India’s food sector is on account of a lack of interest shown by international companies to set up shop after the country allowed 100% FDI in the food-only retail sector.