NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava on Saturday said Indo-Japan collaboration in the manufacturing sector would be the best in the world. If the two countries work with full partnership and trust, the growing partnership between India and Japan is going to be a huge positive factor for the growth of Indian manufacturing, said Bhargava.
Maruti Suzuki, Escorts Kubota and Hero Honda (two entities broke collaboration) collaboration were some of the success stories that India has witnessed.“I believe that India Japan partnership, which we have seen in Maruti Suzuki and some other areas, is becoming stronger, and more and more Japanese companies are getting interested in investing in India, partnering with Indian companies,” Bhargava said in an interview with news agency PTI.
He cited the example of Escorts Kubota, where the latter has become a promoter in the Indian farm equipment and construction equipment maker, and said, “I think this kind of partnership between India and Japan is going to be a huge positive factor for the growth of Indian manufacturing.”
According to Bhargava, a lot can be learnt from the Japanese partners about their skills, best practices and management systems. The Maruti Chairman said the global situation is changing in a direction which favours India, aided by the various reforms measures taken by the government.
“When the world sees that India is also changing and the factors which prevented us from being competitive in manufacturing, are changing and people are looking at it, I think they will also see that India probably now will be the most competitive manufacturing destination in the world, or at least we can do a lot in large operations,” he said.
He further said, “Some small countries may be very good, but then they don’t have the manpower which we have.” So, if the two countries deepen their ties, this combination is unbeatable in the world. “I don’t think that if India and Japan work together with full partnership and trust, anybody in the world including China can do better than us.”
Maruti Suzuki is the leading carmaker in the country with a market share of more than 43% in the passenger vehicle segment.“I believe that India Japan partnership, which we have seen in Maruti Suzuki and some other areas, is becoming stronger, and more and more Japanese companies are getting interested in investing in India, partnering with Indian companies,” Bhargava said.
The company had achieved its highest-ever annual sales of 17,29,826 units in 2018-19, cornering a market share of 51.21%. It, however, declined to 43.38% at 13,31,558 units in 2021-22. In FY22, the company reported a consolidated revenue from operations at Rs 88,330 crore. Its parent Suzuki Group has so far invested Rs 65,000 crore in India.
In a separate development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually lay the foundation stone of Maruti Suzuki’s new manufacturing plant in Sonipat district of Haryana on August 28. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that after Gurugram and Manesar, it will be the third plant of Maruti Suzuki in Haryana.
With Maruti Suzuki setting up another such plant, a new industrial hub is going to be developed in the state, the chief minister said.Khattar said the state government has given all kinds of facilities to the industry, due to which the state is progressing continuously as an industrial hub. He said investment of big companies like Maruti in Kharkhoda has given an impetus to the industrial environment.In May, an MoU was signed for the allotment of land to Maruti Suzuki India and Suzuki Motorcycle India for the setting up of plants in Kharkhoda.
India-Japan partnership
If the two countries work with full partnership and trust, the growing partnership between India and Japan is going to be a huge positive factor for the growth of Indian manufacturing, said Bhargava. Maruti Suzuki, Escorts Kubota and Hero Honda (two entities broke collaboration) collaboration were some of the success stories that India has witnessed. According to Bhargava, a lot can be learnt from the Japanese partners about their skills, best practices and management systems. He said the global situation is changing in a direction which favours India, aided by the various reforms measures taken by the govt.
(With inputs from PTI)