Japanese Industrial cluster starts taking shape in Vithalapur

The Gujarat government is has set the ball rolling on developing a Japanese industrial cluster near the Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) factory at Hansalpur.

Already, the area has managed to attract projects from leading Japanese companies like Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Aluminium company, around four medium sized engineering companies from Japan, apart from the MSIL plant, which is to be built by a wholly owned subsidiary of its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor Corporation.A senior state government official who is closely involved with the development of the industrial cluster said, “Last week, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Aluminium Co, which operates in the area of extrusions, held a ground-breaking ceremony in the Vithalpur region, which we are trying to develop as an Japanese industrial cluster. Besides, another four medium sized engineering companies have expressed interest to set up their projects in the area.”

Around 40-45 acres of land have been allotted to these companies recently. The state government is planning to develop 100 hectares in Vithalpur, where MSIL has bought land privately for a second site for future expansion, as an industrial cluster that will aim at attracting investments from Japanese companies.

Earlier, the state had earmarked around 500 hectares for the Japan-based industrial cluster. However, after the reduction in size of the proposed Mandal-Becharaji special investment region from 50,000 hectares to 10,000 hectares, the area allotted to the cluster has been reduced as well.

According to senior officials in the state government, the Japan External Trade Organisation is playing a crucial role in attracting investment into the cluster. During the last Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit, a Japanese delegation of over 150 companies had visited the state, and of these several medium sized companies in the electronics and engineering space had shown interest in Gujarat.

“These are mainly mid-sized companies that make electronic chips and semiconductors that are looking at setting up a manufacturing base in the state,” the official said. Apart from MSIL and HMSI, another Japanese automobile major Honda Cars India, too, is learnt to have been scouting for land in the area. However, nothing has been finalised on that front. A recycling solutions provider, Japan Environment Planning, is looking at setting up a mobile phone recycling plant in Gujarat. While the location is yet to be decided, it could come up at the Japanese cluster planned at Hansalpur, informed a government official.