The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organising a 19-member CEOs' delegation visit to Japan as part of the celebration of 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
“The intensity of involvement or engagement from Japan in Indian companies has increased over the years,” Mr Vikram S. Kirloskar, co-leader and Vice-Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, told Business Line .
The three-day visit will be led by Mr Adi Godrej, President - CII, and Chairman, Godrej Group.
Mr Kirloskar pointed out that bilateral investments have surged in the last three years, and total FDI from Japan was $12.2 billion between April 2000 and February 2012.
Japan has emerged as the third largest source of FDI for India, he said.
Total trade between the two countries in 2010-11 was $13.8 billion. India's exports stood at $5.2 billion and imports from Japan were at $8.6 billion in 2010-11.
Some of the sectors where the delegation will look for engagement include infrastructure, services including finance, legal and ICT, electronic hardware, heavy industries, environmental management technology, telecom and life sciences.
Mr Kirloskar said that India is the largest recipient of overseas development assistance from Japan in keynote projects such as the Delhi Metro.
He added that Japan's involvement in the upcoming $90-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which would see development of industrial clusters in six states, and the Bangalore-Chennai corridor project were noteworthy.
Japan would also fund the hi-speed rail project between Chennai and Bangalore, which could go up to Mysore, he added.
According to him, a third highway was also being planned between the two cities, besides a Japanese township was also being planned in Karnataka.
The services sector was also looking for business opportunities in Japan, and many IT/ITeS companies were now expanding quite rapidly in Japan, said Mr Kirloskar.
In the life-sciences space, the Daiichi Sankyo acquisition of Ranbaxy has paved the way for Japanese interest in the Indian life-sciences sector, he added.
A delegation of small-scale companies also would visit Japan, he said.
“We are trying to get small-scale companies involved in Japan, and help them overcome the language and cultural barriers. We want to push the co-operation that we get from Japanese companies to smaller companies as well,” said Mr Kirloskar.
A two-day India-Japan Business Summit, organised by the CII and Japanese industry body Kaidanren, will also be held from May 23, which will also see participation from the Union Minister of Commerce, Mr Kamal Nath.