Japanese keen on India
Close on the heels of South Korean and Chinese companies, Japan is preparing to step up bilateral business co-operation with India and invest more here. Japanese ambassador to India Yasukuni Enoki recently said, “Within a couple of years, India will face its second boom phase of investment from Japanese firms.” Japan’s investments in India are said to be low as compared to Japan’s FDI of $50 billion in South East Asia and $40 billion in China. Among other, Suzuki, Daihatsu, Mitsubishi Chemicals and Japanese confectionery manufacturer Lotte have plans to invest in India. Enoki says, “While land prices and labour are cheap, the biggest problem faced by companies is that in order to start manufacturing they have to invest in their own generators.” Japanese firms are bullish on investing in India with the country’s GDP likely to grow constantly at 5 per cent till the middle of this century.
 

World’s big banks in India
Global financial services groups might be looking at bigger opportunities in India. Merrill Lynch for instance, is looking at a banking licence in India, and it is being said that other investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers are also planning similar expansion plans. The world’s largest private banking outfit, UBS has already applied for a banking licence in India. Investment banks are looking at obtaining an authorised dealer’s (AD) licence in India to enable them to offer forex products. The AD licence will help these investment banks offer currency derivatives and forwards. The recent interest comes from the growth in retail and corporate banking.

Wipro plans centre in China
Bangalore-based IT company, Wipro Technologies, plans to open its first software development centre in Beijing. “We plan to have a software development centre in Beijing within the next five to six months,” Chief Strategy Officer of Wipro Technologies Sudip Nandy said. The company plans to locate the centre in China at the Zhongguancun Software Park, which is often dubbed as China’s ‘Silicon Valley’.

While Infosys and Satyam have opened their software facility in Shanghai, Wipro is probably the first Indian IT major to open a software development facility in Beijing. TCS has its software development facility in Hangzhou in east China.
 

India is JC’s 2nd largest sourcing base

JC Penney, the $18 billion retail major sees India as its second largest sourcing base after China. The 15-17% sourcing from India (compared to 55-65% from China) is expected to increase considerably in the near future.

According to India country manager Adil Raza, the global retailer has consolidated its sourcing base from 90 countries to 18. It plans similar consolidation in the Asian region shifting its focus from regional markets such as Nepal and Mauritius to India. The retail major has had a presence in India for the past 15 years as JC Penney Purchasing Corp, India. It sources products like home textiles, glassware, and clothing from here.

 

Nvidia plans $100m investment

Nvidia Corporation, the $2.5 billion company offering graphic and digital media processors, has outlined plans that it might invest a total of $100 million in its Indian operations. Announcing an Indian Design Centre in Bangalore, Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO, president & co-founder of Nvidia said, “We know from experience that India is home to some of the world’s brightest engineers, as many of our top employees today are originally from here. India is strategic to Nvidia and we are delighted to become a member of the Bangalore community.” He said the company spends half a billion dollars on R&D across the globe on an average and they plan to invest 25 per cent of that in India.