The Phoenix-like emergence of Japan, from the ashes of World War II, as one of the major global industrial and economic super powers is a story too well chronicled to bear repetition. Apart from its heavy industries conglomerates, the consumer electronics and durables, and automobile industries are what the Japanese excelled in. A Sony TV was for long a symbol of aspiration for middle class India, before automaker Suzuki, in collaboration with Maruti Udyog, introduced the small wonder of a car in 1984 that finally ushered in India's own automotive revolution.

However, as the Indian economy testily entered the era of liberalisation in the 1990s, Japanese companies, having given up the Indian ambitions frustrated by the protectionist barriers of the Licence-Permit Raj, were too busy developing the Chinese market lured by the rapid opening up of the Bamboo Curtain to an economy growing in double digits, a feat unparalleled anywhere else in the world. By the time the Japanese companies decided to have a re-look at the growing Indian markets in the new millennium, the chaebols from arch-rival South Korea had come to dominate the automotive and white goods segments, with the Japanese companies left rueing the lost opportunities.

But once realisation dawned that growth on a global scale is well neigh impossible without a presence in the rapidly growing Indian market, the Japanese companies, also actively supported by several India-specific initiatives of the Japanese government, renewed their Indian forays with greater vigour, now also more attuned to the local needs. The Koreans had shown the way of tweaking products to suit Indian budgets, tastes and preferences, and the Japanese companies had to just follow the lead.

Apart from the giants of the automotive and heavy engineering world and white goods and consumer electronics universe, a number of smaller Japanese companies too were now making a tentative foray in the booming Indian market. In the year 2008, Lube Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and one of the leading players in the lubrication systems industry globally, entered the Indian market. The company with over four decades of experience formed Lube Automatic Systems Pvt Ltd and chose a young entrepreneur, Roland Machado, as the Managing Director for its Indian subsidiary.

Since then Mr Machado has played a significant role in Lube Corporation's Indian operations. Companies like Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and some of their leading suppliers are partnering with Lube Corporation for their complete lubrication solutions. The company serves various industries such as machine tool, plastic injection moulding, packaging, metal stamping, food processing, wood working and automotive. Lube Automatic Systems Pvt Ltd is based in Vasai, a growing township north of Mumbai.

In the month of February 2012, Mr Machado and the Japanese associates of Lube Corporation led a high-powered delegation of 22 top CEOs of leading Japanese SMEs to India. Looking at the successful business stories of existing Japanese companies in India, the country has become a land of opportunities to many foreign investors who are targeting India. One of the key persons behind this initiative is Rev Steffens, who had, way back in the year 2008, invested in Lube Automatic Systems Pvt Ltd. Impressed by the growing business opportunities in India, she found her investment worth the Yen. Being an astute businessperson, Rev Steffens who knows many entrepreneurs in Japan, realised that many of them would be interested in investing in India. And it was her efforts, along with Rev Takeuchi, that resulted in the visit of this delegation to India. The visit took place in the second week of February, 2012.

The township of Vasai-Virar, just beyond the boundaries of the northern suburbs of Greater Mumbai, is a beehive of construction activity today with most construction majors present in this happening region that is actually an agglomeration of three towns - Vasai, Nallasopara and Virar. Often described as a Mumbai's dormitory since the only source of livelihood to the residents here was the jobs available in the mega polis, the once sleepy backyard of Mumbai is coming to acquire an independent economic profile of its own.

Though formally not an MIDC designated industrial estate, the Vasai Industrial Area, spread across the villages of Gokhivare, Valiv and Sativali and covering approximately 2000 acres, is home to several high profile industries. Besides, it is close to several MIDC estates like Tarapur and Wada, and of course right on the periphery of the crucial industrial triangle of Mumbai-Pune-Nashik. The ports of Mumbai and Nhava-Sheva too are within striking distance. The Japanese delegates were felicitated by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation and Vasai Industrial Association. There was a business seminar held by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. The delegates visited well-established companies in the region like Classic Stripes, Anupam Stationeries, Royal Arc Electrodes Ltd, and were surprised to see the high profile industrial set-up in Vasai-Virar region.

Mr Kishore Musale, Chairman of Classic Stripes Private Ltd (CSPL), the world's largest manufacturer of automotive decals, has recently announced an investment of Rs 1800 to 2000 crore in the Vasai Industrial Area. The Mayor of Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation, Mr Rajiv Patil, elaborated on the industrial development activities in Vasai-Virar region laying special stress on its geographical location, particularly as an important Terminus on the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project is a state-sponsored industrial development project of the Government of India. It is an ambitious project aimed at developing an Industrial Zone spanning across six states in India. The project will see major expansion of infrastructure and industry - including industrial clusters and rail, road, port, air connectivity - in the states along the route of the corridor. The ambitious Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) received a major boost with India and Japan inking an agreement to set up a project development fund. According to Mr Ashok Grover, Director, Steam-O-Tech Engineers (I) Pvt Ltd, and President, Gowalis Industries Association - one of the leading industrial associations of the area, the annual turnover of companies in the region is about Rs 25,000 crore. By a conservative estimate, the annual exports by industries in the Vasai Industrial area is about Rs 7000 crore. About 6-7 containers are loaded for exports every single day, according to Mr Ashok Colaso, Joint Treasurer of the Gowalis Industries Association, who also runs a plastics packaging company in this area. Gowalis, by the way stands for the villages of Gokhivare, Valiv and Sativali, where the industries are located. Among the delegates from Japan were CEOs, Directors and top managers of companies manufacturing automobile components and accessories, clutches and brakes, rare earth magnets, electric and electronic spares and traders of various industrial products, apart from a consulting company. Impressed by what they saw and heard, most delegates are now in the process of firming up their plans for investments in the Vasai-Virar region, with a couple of them already in the process of acquiring land. The Sakura seems certain to bloom in the soil of Vasai, which was once an important supplier of flowers to the Mumbai market.