MB Patil Discusses With Japan’s Consul General

Direct Flights to Japan’s Leading Industrial Hubs

Bengaluru Express
Bengaluru, Aug 30: Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil held discussions with Japan’s Consul General, Nakane Tsutomu, on Friday regarding the launch of direct flight services from Bengaluru to Osaka and Nagoya, two of Japan’s major industrial hubs.

After the meeting, the minister said that the state government would initiate measures to strengthen ties with Japan in areas such as investments, cultural and academic exchanges, and skill development, including language learning. He added that his delegation would focus on these aspects during the scheduled ten-day visit to Japan from September 6.

At present, Bengaluru has direct air connectivity only with Tokyo. During the Global Investors Meet held in February this year, several Japanese companies signed agreements to invest ₹7,500 crore in Karnataka across sectors such as data centres, manufacturing, and logistics. Hence, there is a pressing need to establish direct flights from Bengaluru to industrial cities like Osaka and Nagoya, the minister emphasised.

“Japanese companies are providing job opportunities to many youths in our state. To complement this, exploring collaborations with universities such as VTU for Japanese language learning would be highly beneficial. During the visit to Japan, we plan to meet representatives of a university there to take this initiative forward,” Patil said.

There are about 1,400 Japanese companies operating in India, nearly half of them active in the manufacturing sector alone. Japan ranks fifth in terms of FDI inflows into India, and over the past two years, the two countries have signed 170 agreements worth USD 13 billion. To further facilitate bilateral business processes, the first BICI (Bengaluru Chamber of Industry and Commerce) office has been established in Tokyo, Patil noted.

Industries Department Principal Secretary S. Selvakumar and Commissioner Gunjan Krishna were present on the occasion.