JOIN USJapan on Friday committed an Overseas Development Assistance loan of 50 billion yen or Rs 2,620 crore to India for supporting infrastructure projects to be implemented in public-private partnership mode.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency will provide the loan to the India Infrastructure Finance Company, according to an official press release issued by the Ministry of Finance on Friday.
Takeshi Yagi, Japan’s ambassador to India, exchanged notes with Rajesh Khullar, Joint Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, committing Japan International Cooperation Agency’s loan to the IIFCL on Friday.Tokyo committed the loan for infrastructure projects in India on a day Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During Modi’s visit to Tokyo in September 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Official Development Assistance loan of 50 billion yen to IIFCL for PPP infrastructure projects in India.
Kishida thanked Prime Minister for setting up a special Japan Plus unit in the government to fast-track process of granting approval tom proposals for Japanese investment to India.
India has been ranked as the top destination for future investments from Japan, according to a survey by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The survey was conducted among 1,000 companies of Japan in July 2014 and its outcome was made public recently.
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 Compound Annual Growth Rate of 13.67 per cent (for the last five years 2010 to 2014), according to a press release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
“Some Japanese companies are seriously contemplating their future investment plans in India amounting to about Rs 75,000 crore (approx $12 billion) in next 2-3 years,” official sources in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries said.
During the period June 2014 to September 2014, FDI inflow from Japan rose to $618 million from $273 million during the corresponding period in 2013. The FDI inflow from Japan stood at $103.14 million in October 2014. Kishida will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday.