India, Japan to consider setting up of electronic township

NEW DELHI: India and Japan decided today to look at the possibility of setting up a Japanese Electronics Manufacturing Township (JEMT) here.


The township will help India reduce imports of electronic goods and contain trade deficit. Last year, India imported electronic goods worth USD 32 billion.

"Both sides have noted the idea to establish a JEMT with Japanese assistance in India with world class infrastructure and agreed to take this up in the forthcoming (meeting of the) joint working group," a joint statement said.

The statement was issued after the meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi.

"A Japan Help Desk has been set-up in the Department of Electronics and Information Technology with the mandate to facilitate Japanese companies in investing in electronics sector in India and steps have been taken to form a Joint Working Group (JWG) for greater cooperation in the IT and Electronics sector," it said.

Both the sides also welcomed the progress made in the Chennnai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) project initiated in 2011. Besides, the two sides reviewed the progress of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project.

India's ambitious USD 90 billion DMIC project is aimed at creating mega industrial infrastructure along the Delhi-Mumbai Rail Freight Corridor, which is under implementation. Japan is giving financial and technical aid for the project, which will cover seven states totalling 1,483 km.

Japan has committed to invest USD 4.5 billion in this project. The Union Cabinet had approved an expenditure of Rs 18,500 crore on development of infrastructure for the project.

Japan is also helping India in developing CBIC. An official said that a Japanese consultant will be hired to prepare the detailed project report.

The statement said both the countries have agreed to deepen engagement to further promote investments and improve business environment in partnership with state governments.

It said: "Both sides shared the view that industrial infrastructure is critically important for the expansion of foreign direct investments to India from Japanese companies and welcomed the substantial progress made in the DMIC project," it said.

Bilateral trade between the two was USD 18.51 billion in 2012-13. Besides, India has received USD 14.75 billion FDI from Japan between April 2000 and June 2013. The Japanese investment accounts for 7 per cent of India's total FDI.