Karnataka scouting for anchor investor for Japanese Village

The Karnataka government is looking for an anchor investor for the proposed Japanese Village planned as part of the National Industrial Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) and Smart City project conceived by the Narendra Modi-led government in Tumkur.

In a conversation with Deccan Herald, Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (KSIIDC) Chairman and Managing Director V P Baligar, without getting into financial specifics, said the anchor investor can help leverage the project to greater heights with support from other corporates and MSMEs from Japan.

“We allot 1,000 acres of land for the Japanese Village and necessary infrastructures like roads, power, water and skilled labourers. When the infrastructure is put in place, companies from Japan will come and open their units.

We have to make an investment of Rs 3,000 crore in land and Rs 12,000 crore on other infrastructure,” he said.
According to Baligar, the anchor investor’s capital investment will depend on the type of industry coming up in the Village.

“When Toyota invested in Bidadi, they started off with Rs 1,500 crore and later expanded. So, there will be phases for anchor investor participation,” he said.

The project will come up along with NIMZ, spread across over 14,000 acres of land centred around Vasantanarasapura village in Tumkur district.

NIMZ, originally cleared by the UPA II government, will entail investments of Rs 50,000 crore, giving direct employment for 1 lakh people and indirect employment for 1.5 lakh people.

“A masterplan for NIMZ has been submitted by the Japan Industrial Cooperation Agency (JICA) along with PwC and Nippon. We are yet to prepare a blueprint for the Japanese village,” he said.

On initiatives for the village, he said the state industrial policy statement to be published soon will spell out specifics of the project.

“We are also organising a Global Investors Meet (GIM) in Bangalore in January 2014. Besides showcasing investment opportunities in the NIMZ and the Japanese Village during GIM, we will invite delegates from Japan for this specific project (Japanese Village),” he said.

Japanese companies are currently flourishing at Bidadi where they have been allotted around 500 acres. Honda started operations at the nascent industrial cluster in Narasapura of Kolar district sometime back.

“The Japanese Village will be far more in scale and spread that will addresses the housing, education, entertainment and medical needs of those working. The Japan government, along with private companies, has already developed Japanese Villages in Thailand and Vietnam.