Korean investment: Noida set to take sheen away from Gurgoan on FDI
The conducive business atmosphere being created by the UP government has lured many Korean companies to set up their production bases in this western UP town NOIDA. In view of this, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KOCHAM) has decided to set up its UP chapter here.
SUNDAY SPECIAL
NEW DELHI: The New Delhi NCR town NOIDA and its extension – Greater Noida are fast turning into favourite destinations for foreign investors, especially South Korean companies. Hitherto, an adorable town of Koreans for being close to IGI international airport, and swanky condominiums, Gurugram (the erstwhile Gurgoan) is fast losing its popular tag of “Koreans’ first choice” to NOIDA for many obvious reasons.
Apart from South Korea’s multinational company Samsung having set up its world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturing unit, and also LG Electronics factory in NOIDA, the reasons behind new Korean companies moving to NOIDA include a steep rise in the ease of doing business ranking, improved civic infrastructure and law & order situation, proactive and responsive administration, reasonable cost of living, realistic realty prices, moderate cost of operations, easy availability of talent pool, and above all the upcoming Asia’s largest airport in Jewar, which is slated to be operational by 2024 and place NOIDA on the global map.
Korea’s electric vehicle giant Edison Motors also is likely to set up its EV vehicles production facility in Greater Noida with an accumulated investment of more than Rs. 5,000 Crores.
KOCHAM’s UP Chapter coming up in NOIDA:
Sensing the seriousness of the expanding base of Korean companies in NOIDA and other parts of Western Uttar Pradesh, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KOCHAM) – a representative industry body of about 750 Korean companies in India is planning to set up its dedicated UP chapter here.
On October 20, the KOCHAM representatives led by its Secretary-General Hee-Chul Jung, and President of the Korean Association in India Euy Don Park held a virtual meeting with the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) CEO Narendra Bhooshan.
Based in Gurgaon, KOCHAM office acts as the secretariat for Korea International Trade Association (KITA) that represents 75,000 Korean companies worldwide.
Proactive & Responsive Administration:
“During our virtual meeting with GNIDA CEO Mr. Bhooshan on Tuesday, we shared some of the local concerns being faced by the existing Korean companies such as faulty traffic lights, security, etc. We felt so pampered at the swift response of the GNIDA team that swung into action addressing those concerns. The CEO immediately directed its team to set up a Whatsapp SNS Room for the Korean companies to share their concerns in this group on a real-time basis. This room also included commissioner level official for quick redressal of the concerns related to security and law & order,” Hee-Chul Jung, Secretary-General, KOCHAM told Asian Community News (ACN) Network.
Jung said such kind of gestures spread positive word of mouth feedback amongst the Korean business community and it also helps in attracting more companies to this region.
Improved Law & order situation:
According to ASSOCHAM’s India Japan Business Promotion Council, Korean companies are comparatively more aggressively investing in UP especially in NOIDA than that of Japanese counterparts. NOIDA that for a long time suffered from organized crime, has witnessed the law and order situations improving a lot in the last few years.
“Ever since Yogi Adityanath has taken over as the UP Chief Minister, the law and order situation has looked up here especially in NOIDA, and organised crime has come down. The present CM is very strict on providing a safe working environment, and organized crime is on its way out of this business town, which is fast becoming a global city because of the influx of non-resident communities from across the globe. Moreover, Koreas are daring people and know how to face such situations,” said Rahul Sharma, chairman, India-Japan Business Promotion Council, ASSOCHAM.
Apart from its proximity to IGI airport and top-of-the-line housing facilities, Gurgoan also offered a safe and secure living atmosphere to the expats community as the city never suffered from organized crime.
Sharma said, “However, Japanese companies do not feel not comfortable in NOIDA and they are more inclined towards Gujarat and other South Indian states. For example, Honda could not handle the situation in Noida and expanded to Rajasthan. But Koreans are very comfortable in Rajasthan and they prefer NOIDA.”
Haryana fell to 16th ranking in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), UP jumped to 2nd in the country:
The UP state jumped to the 2nd position in the EoDB annual rankings released in September when it jumped from the 12th position in Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 2017-18, leaving behind several Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, etc.
Ironically, Haryana that houses Gurgaon saw a drastic decline in it their ranking from third last time to 16th. In deep contrast, UP state stood second only to Andhra Pradesh (AP).
UP has implemented 186 of the 187 reforms suggested by the Union government’s department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) under BRAP 19.
UP government actually rolled out the red carpet for the Korean companies whereas the Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar only made glib promises to the Korean companies of rolling out the red carpet.
Under state BRAP 20-21, UP implemented 170 out of 301 suggested reforms, that covered several aspects such as labour regulation, online single-window facility, access to information and transparency, land administration, construction permit, commercial disputes, etc.
The successful implementation of the Nivesh Mitra portal is said to be the major factor behind UP skyrocketing to the second-ranking in the country. The portal received more than two lakh applications for No-Objection Certificates (NoCs) and 94% were disposed of.
NOIDA better on Cost of Living, Operation index, and Infrastructure:
“NOIDA has many positive factors that work for its advantage such as easily available talent pool, reasonable cost living as well operation. The land prices are comparatively within the affordable range that makes the projects more financially viable. NOIDA that has excellent roads, is not only well connected to Delhi and NCR towns but also to other states like Maharashtra and Gujarat and their ports,” said Hee-Chul Jung, who also happens to the Chief Representative (Director), KITA in India.
According to experts, Gurgoan is overconstructed, and civic infrastructure is poor when compared with NIDA. Roads in Gurgaon are in bad shape.
“The water is going to be a scarce commodity in time to come in Gurgaon as the groundwater level is plummeting in many ports like Sohna, Jhajjar, and other places. The cost of living is very high comparatively in Gurgaon. For example, the cost of property registration ranges between Rs. 8,000 and 20,000 per sq feet whereas it is quite less in NOIDA. A piece of land which costs the industrialists Rs. 2 cr in NOIDA, it is available for Rs. 8-10 cr in Gurgoan,” said Rahul Sharma, Chairman, India-Japan Business Promotion Council, ASSOCHAM.
Upcoming Int’l Airport at Jewar will be the game-changer:
Experts are of the view that the upcoming airport in Jewar will help Uttar Pradesh make its new identity on the global stage. To be built by the Swiss company Zurich International Airport Limited AG, the civil work will take off from June and is scheduled to get commissioned by 2024, as per the terms of the agreement the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) signed with Zurich International Airport Limited AG. There will also be a metro rail connectivity from New Delhi to Jewar airport via Greater Noida by 2023.
“Gurgaon thrived because of its prowess in information technology (IT) and its proximity to the IGI international airport. The airport in NOIDA is going to be a very big factor. The realty prices have already gone up 10-20 times in NOIDA because of this, and companies have made investments in sites for school, colleges, IT, etc.,” said Sharma.
Apart from electronics parks, defense projects and the Western Uttar Pradesh will have Film City, Toy City, and multi-modal connectivity.
Also read: Red Carpet to replace Red Tapism for Korean Cos in Haryana
