Japan External Trade Organisation a government related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and rest of the world, is upbeat on forging tie-ups between the Japanese and Indian construction equipment makers.

Presently, JETRO has managed to bring 13 mid sized construction equipment manufacturers from Japan to showcase their products and technologies at Excon 2011, an international exhibition on construction equipment at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Mr Masaki Ida chief director general of JETRO New Delhi told Business Standard that “Japanese companies are well known for their technology and we have 13 companies from Japan participating for the first time at Excon. At least three of them are actively looking at opportunities to enter into joint ventures with Indian CE makers and make use of the growing potential for equipment sales here in India.

He said, three CE makers from Japan such as Toyota Kohki Co Ltd, Ueda Industries Co Ltd and Chikusui Canycom, Inc are in talks with several Indian companies for forging joint venture partnerships. To begin with, these companies want to first export their machines and then go in for joint venture partnerships with Indian companies.

He added that “We have invited 36 Indian companies including Ashok Leyland John Deere, L&T, Escorts Construction and JCB among others to discuss the possibility of forming JV in India.” He said there is a huge demand for Japanese construction equipment in the Indian market. The Japanese products have huge demand from India for applications in coal and iron ore mining, road construction and large-scale infrastructure projects.

For the year 2010, the companies from Japan exported equipment worth INR 1,200 crore to their Indian customers. For the current year, it is expected to go up significantly

(Sourced from BS)