India top investment destination for Japanese firms: Survey

India has emerged as the number one investment destination for Japanese companies with some planning investments of about Rs 75,000 crore (Rs 750 billion) cumulatively in the next 2-3 years, says a survey by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The poll was conducted in July 2014 and covered 1,000 companies in the Japanese manufacturing sector.

Based on this research, India has been ranked as the top destination for future investments followed by Indonesia and China.

Some Japanese companies are seriously contemplating their future investment plans in India amounting to about Rs 75,000 crore ($12 billion) in next 2-3 years, the commerce commerce quoted the survey to say.

"In October 2014, the number of Japanese companies in India had reached 1,209, which is 13 per cent higher over the same period last year with a CAGR of 13.67 per cent (for the last five years (2010 to 2014)," the ministry statement issued on Friday said.

It said the issues relating to the Sojitz corp have been sorted out.

In June 2013, a consortium of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Japan's Sojitz Corp had bagged an order of Rs 6,699.50 crore (Rs 66.99 billion) from the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd.

The contract is to construct 626 km of a double-track corridor from Rewari in Haryana to Iqbalgarh in Gujarat via Rajasthan, across three states. The project is expected to be completed in four years.

"The issues related to the state government of Rajasthan concerning Sojitz, working for Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), have been resolved," it said.

During the period June to September 2014, FDI inflow from Japan amounted to $618 million against $273 million for the corresponding period in 2013. FDI inflow of $103.14 million took place in October 2014.

The government has set up Japan Plus, a special management team, to facilitate Japanese investments. The team is actively interacting with Japanese companies and handholding them through various approval processes, as and when required.

One of the mandates of Japan Plus is to help develop Japanese Integrated Industrial Parks. For this, discussions are going on with Japanese companies and the state governments concerned.