In India’s Gujarat, eating meat or seafood is frowned upon, but in the state’s dusty industrial town of Vithalapur, hotels with names like Osaka Palace are churning out ramen and tempura – all to please the Japanese auto engineers and managers who now live in them.
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The transformation of Vithalapur’s farmlands, which lie 75km (46 miles) east of the state capital of Gandhinagar, owes much to increased foreign investment in Indian manufacturing – one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s key policy planks.
Honda’s motorcycle unit first started production in Vithalapur nearly a decade ago, while Suzuki has an eight-year-old plant that started rolling out its first electric cars in August. A bevy of auto-related suppliers and other industrial Japanese companies have also set up shop.
Direct investment from Japan in India hit US$2.5 billion for the year ended March 31, an increase of 27 per cent from four years ago, government data shows, with much of it going towards the auto and electronics sectors.
Not far from Vithalapur’s factories, Mizuki Ryokan and Midori are among half a dozen highway hotels that are thriving, home to Japanese staff now in India on multi-year contracts.
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Such has been the town’s growth that Hyatt is set to open a 108-room property this year.