New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS): The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have jointly reviewed the progress made under the Japanese Industrial Townships (JITs) in India. Cureently, 114 Japanese companies are operating across the JITs.

As the fifth largest investor, Japan has contributed over $36.2 billion in cumulative investments in India since 2000, especially in key sectors such as automobiles, electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM), medical devices, consumer goods, textiles, food processing and chemicals.

JITs were set up pursuant to the 'action agenda for the India-Japan investment and trade promotion and Asia-Pacific economic integration' signed between METI and DPIIT in April 2015 to take steps to develop 'Japan Industrial Townships' in India, especially in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) regions in order to facilitate Japanese investment in India, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

Currently, there are 114 Japanese companies across the JITs. The Neemrana and Sri City industrial townships host the majority of the Japanese companies.

Companies such as Daikin, Isuzu, Kobelco, Yamaha Music, Hitachi Automotive etc. are the marquee Japanese investors which have set up manufacturing in these townships. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme announced for 14 sectors received numerous applications.

Japanese companies have also applied for these PLI schemes and have received approval. The National Single Window System, an initiative by the Central government, was also showcased to the Japan side.

This one-stop digital platform currently has 20 Central ministries and 14 states/UTs onboard.

DPIIT reviewed the status of JITs with METI through a virtual platform in view of the Covid-19 situation. The Embassy of Japan in India and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) also participated from the Japanese side.

From the Indian side, officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Embassy in Tokyo and representatives of state governments and Invest India participated in the meeting.