PM Modi meets Uniqlo CEO, Suzuki Motor Corp Advisor and Softbank Corporation CEO at Japan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met the CEO of Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo, Suzuki Motor Corporation Advisor Osamu Suzuki and Softbank Corporation founder and CEO Masayoshi Son in Japan. Modi is on a two-day visit to attend a summit of the Quad leaders at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met the CEO of Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo to discuss investment opportunities for the retailer in textile manufacturing in India. "Boosting India's textile sector. PM @narendramodi met CEO of Fast Retailing, the parent company of @UNIQLO_JP, Tadashi Yanai," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. "Discussed Uniqlo's growing presence in India and investment opportunities for textile manufacturing in India under PLI scheme."

While Yanai appreciated the entrepreneurial zeal of the people of India, Modi asked him "to take part in the PM-Mitra scheme aimed at further strengthening the textiles sector," PMO India tweeted.

The PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme is aimed at developing textile parks through a special purpose vehicle owned by the central and state government and in a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Each park will have an incubation centre, a common processing house and a common effluent treatment plant and other textile related facilities, such as design centres and testing centres. The Master Developer is not just required to develop the industrial park but also maintain it during the concession period.

In addition to that, Prime Minister Modi met Suzuki Motor Corporation Advisor Osamu Suzuki to discuss opportunities in investment, innovation, manufacturing of electric vehicles, and recycling centres in India. "In a meeting with Advisor @suzukicojp Osamu Suzuki, PM @narendramodi appreciated Suzuki's transformational role in India's automotive industry," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. In the meeting, they "discussed opportunities for investment, innovation, manufacturing EVs, recycling centres in India", Bagchi said.

In March this year, Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that it would invest around 150 billion yen (about Rs 10,445 crore) by 2026, for local manufacturing of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and batteries in Gujarat. The company's wholly-owned arm Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt Ltd (SMG) would invest Rs 7,300 crore for the construction of a plant for BEV batteries on land neighbouring SMG's existing plant by 2026. Also, SMG will invest another Rs 3,100 crore for increasing production capacity for BEV manufacturing by 2025.

Another group firm Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India Pvt Ltd (MSTI) will invest Rs 45 crore in the construction of a vehicle recycling plant by 2025. Last year in November, MSTI -- the joint venture between the Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Group -- commenced operations of the vehicle dismantling and recycling unit at Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The facility, spread over 10,993 square metres, has a capacity to scrap and recycle over 24,000 ELVs (end of life vehicles) annually. In November 2019, the two partners announced a joint venture for setting up the vehicle scrapping and recycling unit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met Softbank Corporation founder and CEO Masayoshi Son to discuss the Japanese investment firm's future participation in Indian technology, energy, finance and R&D sectors. "Further propelling Japanese investments in India...PM @narendramodi met Founder @SoftBank_Group Masayoshi Son and commended Softbank's role in India's startup sector," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

Bagchi further said, "Discussions focused on Softbank's future participation in India in technology, energy, finance, R&D, etc". SoftBank is one of the major investors in startups in India and has backed large ventures, such as Paytm and Policybazaar, which are now listed on the Indian stock markets.
It has also invested in other startups such as Oyo Hotels & Homes, Delhivery and Unacademy, among others.

Prime Minister Modi is in Japan on a two-day visit to attend a summit of the Quad leaders at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

with Agency inputs