Goyal pushes for ¥10 trillion in Japanese investment into India by 2035 | Economy & Policy News

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who concluded his four-day visit to Japan on Thursday, advanced New Delhi’s efforts to garner ¥10 trillion (around $60 billion) in Japanese investment into India during the visit. India and Japan had set the ambitious investment target last year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the East Asian nation.

 

During the visit, Goyal held discussions with government leaders, financial institutions and business executives, including more than 30 major Japanese companies and institutions such as MUFG, Mizuho, Nomura, Nippon Life, Development Bank of Japan and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, among others.

 

“The engagements focused on expanding investment, strengthening resilient supply chains, advancing technology partnerships and creating new avenues for business-to-business collaboration between the two countries,” the commerce ministry said in a press statement.

  

The minister highlighted India’s ambition to build a globally competitive semiconductor ecosystem, with semiconductor demand projected to reach $150 billion by 2032. He outlined the government’s six-pillar strategy, including chip design, semiconductor machinery and materials, fabrication, back-end processing, research and development, and talent building.

 

The minister emphasised that the country’s large pool of skilled and young talent, combined with Japan’s cutting-edge technology, engineering expertise and manufacturing capabilities, can catalyse a world-class semiconductor and technology revolution in India.

 

Japan, which is among the top five sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India, has made considerable investments in the semiconductor sector. Japanese firm Tokyo Electron has collaborated with Tata Electronics to accelerate semiconductor equipment infrastructure in India. It has set up a commercial semiconductor fabrication plant (fab) in Dholera, Gujarat, and an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility in Jagiroad, Assam.

 

Data available with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) shows India has received cumulative FDI worth $48.14 billion from Japan as of March 2026 since 2000.

 

Goyal, during the visit, also committed that his ministry would develop a framework to ease compliance and regulatory norms, including the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification requirement, to further ease the business environment for Tokyo Electron as well as other foreign firms interested in investing and manufacturing high-tech products in India.

 

According to a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), quoted in a report by New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), nearly 72 per cent of Japanese manufacturers in India have flagged BIS certification as a compliance requirement that affected their operations.

 

“The Japanese firms reported that certification can require product testing, extensive documentation and inspections of foreign factories by BIS officials,” GTRI said in its report elaborating on the JETRO survey. “The manufacturers had to bear the cost, even when the products already meet Japanese or international standards.”

 

A framework to ease BIS certification norms may be seen as part of New Delhi’s broader effort to mobilise FDI into India. Recently, the government also eased FDI norms for inventory-based e-commerce firms. Simultaneously, India has initiated work towards a more predictable FDI policy and is likely to introduce an updated model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) soon.

 

The effort comes at a time when data shows a sharp slowdown in net FDI inflows into India over the past four years, falling from an annual average of around $40 billion between FY20 and FY22 to $6.95 billion in FY26.