Chinese Premier Li Keqiang paid a visit to the Tata Consultancy Services global development centre in suburban Goregaon, Mumbai, on Tuesday. Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry hosted Li and his delegation at the centre.
Li was given an overview of the Tata Group’s operations in China, with a special focus on the Jaguar Land Rover SUV and Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) growing investments and operations across the country.
The Chinese Premier interacted with senior Tata group officials including N. Chandrasekaran, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of TCS. He was shown the latest models of Range Rover Evoque and Jaguar XF.
Li also spent some time interacting with TCS and Tata group employees in China, from the Shanghai Global Development Centre through live video conference.
The Tata group said it was the only Indian private corporate on Li’s itinerary during his three- day visit to India, underscoring the importance of the group’s operations and investments in China.
Speaking on the occasion, Cyrus Mistry said, “China is a very important geography for the future growth of the Tata group and we continue to increase our investments and scale of operations in that country. We have made substantial investments in many sectors across China and believe that there can be tremendous cross learning between India and China in the field of technology.”
Jaguar Land Rover entered into a joint venture with China’s Chery Automobile in November 2012. Total investment in the joint venture is RMB 10.9 billion ($1.7 billion), which includes a manufacturing plant in Changshu.
This is will be Jaguar Land Rover’s first manufacturing facility outside the UK. During 2012, China became Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) largest global market and the country continues to be at the centre of its global strategy. Over the past three years, JLR has been investing in sales and after sales infrastructure to develop an extensive dealer network in China with 163 authorised dealers.
Incidentally, TCS was also the first Indian software company to set up operations in China in 2002. TCS was invited by the Chinese Government in 2005, to form a joint venture supported by the National Development and Reforms Commission, to create a large scale global off-shoring base in China.
TCS operates out of six locations in China – Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Dalian.
According to data from the Commerce Ministry, India’s trade deficit with China is currently $40 billion, up from just $1 billion in 2002. Trade has risen from around $2 billion to $68 billion, during the same period. India and China are targeting bilateral trade of $100 billion by 2015.