NEW DELHI: Shillong MP Vincent H. Pala on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up Japanese investment townships and institutes in the North East, particularly in Shillong.
In a letter to Modi, the Shillong MP reminded the Prime Minster that during his visit to Japan, it was agreed that Japan-India Institutes of Manufacturing (JIMs) and Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) would be set up in India.
The letter also laid emphasis on the Act East Policy.
Justifying his demand, Pala said Shillong being the former capital of undivided Assam was the nerve centre of the North East. Considering its geography and salubrious weather, the hill city is conducive for the Japanese investments, he added.
“Make in India and Skill India, which are your brainchildren, are extremely wanted in the North East to give the region the much-needed twist and fillip,” Pala wrote in the letter.
Strategically too, developmental intervention of this kind will help in keeping the adverse Chinese influence in the North East under check and bringing the youths to the mainstream, the MP observed.
Last November, Japan added steam to Modi’s Skill India project by committing to train 30,000 Indians over the next 10 years in state-of-the-art manufacturing skills and practices.
The first three JIMs under the programme will start for 3,000 trainees this year in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan. More such institutes and townships will follow in other parts of the country. Establishment of these townships will enhance technology infusion, innovation and best practices in the manufacturing sector in India with Japan being the fourth largest investor in the country.
