The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Italian firms prefer to invest in India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 02, 2006
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Italian firms prefer to invest in India

Special Correspondent

Talented human resource a key factor influencing their decision

CHENNAI: China may be riding an economic boom, but when it comes to establishing facilities in Asia many Italian companies prefer India. They are impressed with the talent pool in the country and find that language is also not a challenge.

This message emerged from the speeches by senior executives of Italian subsidiaries in Tamil Nadu at a seminar on "Trends of cooperation between India and Italy in the mechanical sector" here on Friday. The firms also announced plans to make fresh investments.

Addressing the meet, organised by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IICCI) and the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), Bay Forge Limited director Carlo del Carretto said the situation in India was also improving. "Procurement of materials is less of a problem [now] ... infrastructure is being improved." Bay Forge, part of an Euro300 million group in Italy, had its manufacturing facility in Kancheepuram district and was hopeful of its parent company making more investments in it, he added.

M. Ganesh, managing director of Bonfiglioli Transmissions, an Italian subsidiary in Tamil Nadu, said the company was impressed with the "well-educated disciplined workforce," availability of raw materials and the relatively better IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] regime. Given the strong customer base in India, it was looking for additional land to expand. The business environment had undergone a major change since the late 1990s, when the company invested in the State nervously. "Whatever is possible to achieve in Italy is possible here."

Francesco Varrasi, a senior executive of Mind Resources, an Italian engineering service outsourcing firm, said there were plans to establish an Indian subsidiary. One of the key reasons for this was the presence of a large number of engineers and scientists. "We want to grow in India ... want to outsource everything to India."

K. Rajaraman, Special Secretary, Industries Department, said Tamil Nadu was not just about Chennai alone, as several tier-II cities were posting attractive growth rates. IICCI chairman Sauro Mezzetti said Italy was interested in cooperating with India in the mechanical sector.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu