Japan helped India strengthen infrastructure, bolster economy: Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh
Union Minister of State (I/C) and 5-times elected parliamentarian from Gurugram constituency said this while inaugurating the Japanese cuisine restaurant AJU NAGOMI Family Dining in Gurugram.
Gurugram. Since Gurugram plays host to the maximum number of Japanese expatriates in the country who come and stay here for work, the city should have more Japanese facilities such as specialty restaurants and hotels serving Japanese food and comfortable accommodation to make their lives easy here. Japan helped India to strengthen its infrastructure, and bolster its economy by supporting numerous key public-utility projects.
On the other hand, the government is working hard to attract more investment from Japan, and invite more Japanese companies to set up their facilities in the country including Haryana.
Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said this while inaugurating a Japanese cuisine restaurant AJU Nagomi Family Dining in Gurugram on Monday evening. KAWAZU Kunihiko, Minister & Deputy Chief of Mission, Chargé d’affairs ad interim, Embassy of Japan, and other diplomats and industry leaders from Japanese corporate world were also present on this occasion.
“Suzuki came first in Gurugram to set up a joint enterprise with an Indian company Maruti, and since it has grown to three pants in Haryana, one more in Gujarat and it continues to expand. Maximum number of Japanese come to Gurugram and they need authentic Japanese food. Opening of Japanese restaurants such as AJU NAGOMI is a welcome step,” he added.
The union minister Singh along with Japanese minister KAWAZU Kunihiko also cut the 70th Anniversary India-Japan diplomatic relations cake after jointly inaugurating this Japanese restaurant. Besides serving authentic and elaborate variety of Japanese cuisines, the restaurant also offered Japanese beverages to the participants.
According to an estimate, out of a total number of about 10,000 Japanese expats living in India, about 5000 live in Gurugram and Delhi. Haryana, especially Gurugram also around 400 Japanese companies.
The minister said that Japan helped India to strengthen its infrastructure, and bolster its economy by supporting numerous key public-utility projects. The Japanese automotive industry, in particular, set up quality benchmarks in India prompting other countries to provide world-class cars here.
“Japan has taken the infrastructure of India to a new height. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor project, has got about one Lac crore of financial assistance from the Japanese government,” said Rao Inderjit Singh, who is also the Member of Parliament of the Gurugram constituency and holds additional portfolios of Ministry of Planning and Ministry Corporate Affairs.
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor project which is the part of ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, is being funded by Japan’s JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).
It creates India’s largest industrial belt zone by linking industrial parks and harbors of six states between Delhi and Mumbai. Japanese companies such as Nippon Koei, Oriental Consultants Global, Hitachi, MITSUI & CO, Sojitz, JFE Engineering and IHI Infrastructure Systems are playing important role in the development of this priority project.
The minister said that the Indian economy in part rested on the automotive industry in two and four wheeler segment.
“It’s because of the Maruti Suzuki that has about 70 percent of the share of the Indian automotive industry, the Europeans or Americans had to march themselves against the quality yardsticks that has been established by the Japanese automotive industry. It’s because of Japanese automotive companies we have first grade cars in India are, whereas earlier we used to have third-world cars.”
In his address, KAWAZU Kunihiko, Minister & Deputy Chief of Mission, Chargé d’affairs ad interim,
Embassy of Japan, New Delhi said that it was heartening to know that Gurugram has got India’s largets Kaiten-zushi (Shushi train) restaurant AJU NAGOMI Family Dining with unique Tatami Seating in Gurugram as part of the ongoing 70th Anniversary celebrations of the of Japan-India Diplomatic Relations.
“I hope Kaiten-zushi (Shishi train) becomes a buzzword in India and restaurants like this save the Japanese from being home sick. As Japan is far from India in distance, and it is very difficult for the Japanese to set up life in India in different circumstances, and diverse culture, it’s very encouraging that the existence of such facilities continues to support life and stay of the Japanese people,” said the Minister Kawazu Kunihiko.
He said, “I also expect that many young Indian people travel to Japan and run Japanese Kaizen and Japanese hospitality. The people-to-people connect is the key to friendship between the two countries, and young Indians would be interested in restaurant service under the SSW (Specified Skilled Workers) program in the area of restaurant.
Prakash Yadav, Founder and Director said the growing presence of Japanese people in places like Gurugram required more Japanese facilities such as restaurants and hotels. “Based on the expertise of providing Japanese hospitality throughout India, Aju Group of Hotels has now grown to 9 branches across the metropolitan cities i.e. Gurugram (Haryana), Manesar (Haryana), Neemrana (Rajasthan), Ahmedabad and Vithlapur (Gujarat).”
“Earlier too, we have also been supporting Japanese entertainment and recreations activities, and sponsored 70th Anniversary India-Japan Friendship Golf Cup 2022, Indo-Japan Golf Cup, ETOKAI (12 Zodiac Signs) Golf Tournament, Suzuki Golf Cup, J-Asia Cup Football Tournament, Nihonkai Softball Tournament and provide services to the annual tournaments.
Social activist and Managing Director, AJU Group of Japanese Hotels Inder Yadav delivered vote of thanks and expressed his gratitude to all those who attended the opening ceremony of the restaurant.
“Our special thanks goes to today’s Special Guest H.E. KAWAZU Kunihiko san, who has come all the way from Delhi to join the celebrations. We are short of words to express our hearty gratitude to Hon’ble Union Minister Rao Inderjeet Singh ji for taking his time out from his busy schedule to inaugurate our Japanese cuisine restaurant. We are truly indebted for this kind gesture of the union minister,” he added.
Authored by Vanshika and Harshita Ahuja, Japanese Language Students, MOSAI, New Delhi
Photos by Yatharth, Korean Language Student, Global Diction Studio, Gurugram
