As Chinese firms move out, govt prepares pitch to make them invest

Apart from these, Niti Aayog Vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said that there would be discussions on cooperation in the areas of highways, and urban development in view of India’s focus on developing smart cities and push to infrastructure development in the country. Panagariya said that Chinese multinationals are shifting their base outside of China to manage costs in view of high labour costs. He informed that the annual minimum manufacturing wage cost per head in China is around Rs 5 lakh, which are promoting MNCs to migrate to other countries offering better prospects.

“With India’s labour wages low in comparison with China, we would want Chinese multinationals involved in labour intensive sectors such as electronics and textiles to migrate to India to take advantage of the demographic dividend available here,” Panagariya said. He added that this could create more employment in India as well as increase exports.

According to Panagariya, as part of the dialogue, India has also proposed to bring various states on board, suggesting that ultimately it is the states where the investments would be made. Several states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh which have either received substantial FDI or are on coastal regions, have also been invited to be a part of the discussions. The vice chairman also said that the Chinese delegation would be 220 strong, comprising government as well as industry representatives.

The discussions will be held on a government to government level and between India’s industry and Chinese businessmen. Niti Aayog has also proposed site visits of top delegates to a Maruti Suzuki plant in Gurgaon.