Leveraging the recast investment climate in Punjab, leading Japanese steel manufacturer Aichi Steel has collaborated with Ludhiana-based Vardhman Special Steels giving further impetus to the export, employment and steel manufacturing potential in the state.
The Aichi Steel — an affiliate of Japan’s Toyota Motor Corporation — would introduce cutting edge technology in the state through Vardhman besides improving quality of its products, reducing operational cost and bring process efficiencies.
“Earlier to this development, deliberations between Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu took place thrice at New Delhi and Chandigarh regarding industrial and investment scenario in Punjab. This partnership is aimed at achieving sustainable growth with the Chief Minister’s ‘Make in Punjab’ vision,” said an official spokesperson of Invest Punjab.
Pertinently, Vardhman Special Steels’ vice-chairman and managing director Sachit Jain accompanied by Japan’s Ambassador in India Kenji Hiramatsu had apprised the Chief Minister about the agreement during pre-summit interaction with foreign missions by Capt Amarinder in New Delhi last week. The Chief Minister had assured fulsome support and cooperation from State Government to further boost the steel and automotive sectors.
Spokesperson said that this partnership will also set a significant precedence for other players in the region to augment their product portfolio with similar technological collaboration with international companies. It will also give a fillip to FDI in India and will directly be in line with National Steel Policy of achieving 300MT of crude steel capacity by 2030, said the spokesperson.
Briefing about the partnership, Vardhman’s Jain said that one of the key objectives of this partnership is “to develop special steel grades for automotive companies in India so as to help fill the gap of providing substitution of steel that is currently being imported. We plan to later export this special grade of steel to South Asia and Europe as well”.
Japan keen to invest in electronics, IT and food sector in Punjab Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday said that Japan had evinced interest in investing in the field of electronics, information technology and food processing sector in Punjab.
Harsimrat said that this was conveyed to her by the Japanese envoy Kenji Hiramatsu during a meeting in Delhi on Friday. “Besides evincing interest in investments in Punjab, the Japanese envoy had also gave an update on projects and MoUs signed between Japanese and Indian firms of food processing sector during World Food India 2017. Based on this update, I can confidently state that Japanese investment in India is set to rise exponentially in the next few years,” she added.
The Minister said that the diplomat also extended an invitation to her to attend the World Assembly for Women (WAW) in Japan. “Hiramatsu also conveyed his government’s willingness to support NGOs working for women's empowerment and girl child in India. I am sure this collaboration would be of immense benefit for all”, she added.