Sri City Pvt Ltd, a multi-product SEZ promoted by a clutch of private equity investors, on Wednesday said it was focusing on automotive and electronic firms for its next level of business.
“We are already in talks with Japanese players for an electronic park. They (Japanese firms) are looking for investors and partners,” said Ravindra Sannareddy, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Sri City.
With a land bank of over 6,500 acres in Chittoor, including 2,000 acres SEZ, Sri City currently has 100 customers and expects to rope in another 200 in next 3-4 years.
The existing 100 customers are expected to invest nearly `12,500 crore and generate more than 20,000 jobs. The three major units — Cadbury’s, Isuzu, and Pepsi — together have announced `5,500 crore investment and created 3,250 jobs.
According to Sannareddy, there was a potential to get more Japanese companies to set up shop in India. “There are over 80,000 Japanese companies operating in China compared to 800 in India. In Shanghai alone, there are 8,000 Japanese firms as against 250 in south India,” Sannareddy said.
Meanwhile, of the 100 firms, 37 are already operational, while 30 more are under construction. In manufacturing, so far 13 companies have announced plans with the Japanese automotive major ISuzu alone committing `1,500 crore investments . “We are also talking to one more major automobile maker besides tapping suppliers,” Reddy said adding KLT Motors, a supplier to ISuzu was close to signing the deal.
Similarly in food processing, Mondelez International’s Cadbury and beverage major PepsiCo have announced plans to invest `1,000 crore each.
Italy-based Danieli, a company that builds plant and equipment for the steel industry, has invested `750 crore at Sri City SEZ to set up a manufacturing facility.
France-based Alstom Transport, which is into systems, equipment and services for the railway sector, has invested `500 crore at the Sri City SEZ. The company is expected to roll out its first train compartment set in 2014 to Chennai Metro Rail Ltd.