Japan targets tenfold business expansion in India over next decade

Tokyo-based trading giant Marubeni Corporation aims to expand its business operations in India tenfold over the next decade, positioning the fast-growing South Asian nation as its next major international anchor after North America.

Speaking to Nikkei, Marubeni President and Chief Executive Officer Masayuki Omoto described India as "the only country where the market is growing at a double-digit rate," stressing that rapid economic momentum in the country of 1.4 billion people could anchor global economic expansion.

According to Omoto, India’s middle class already exceeds 400 million people—surpassing the total population of the United States—while rising household incomes among the remaining one billion citizens are poised to generate massive consumer demand across manufacturing and retail sectors.

While the United States remains Marubeni’s primary profit engine, the conglomerate plans to replicate its North American success in India by allocating substantial management resources and implementing a three-pronged strategy. This includes aligning with the government's "Make in India" manufacturing drive, tapping into surging consumer spending, and leveraging India as a regional springboard to enter other emerging markets.

In March, the trading house launched Marubeni Consumer Platform India to finance and scale operations across food and beverage, restaurant, and fast-moving consumer goods sectors, staffing key leadership positions with Indian executives to capitalise on local expertise.

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Marubeni has also expanded its footprint in India's real estate sector. Since entering Mumbai's property market in 2020, it has broadened projects into Pune and launched its fifth residential development in 2026, with plans to explore future ventures in Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bengaluru.

In the industrial domain, the conglomerate supplies nearly 20% of India's total copper imports—a volume Omoto expects will climb sharply as artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centre investments accelerate nationwide. Marubeni also manages the distribution and servicing of Japanese industrial machinery from Citizen Machinery and Brother Industries.

Omoto noted, however, that navigating India's business landscape requires addressing critical hurdles, including cutting bureaucratic red tape, instituting faster commercial arbitration mechanisms, and bridging infrastructure bottlenecks.

Emphasising the country's strategic trajectory, Omoto stated that "the 21st century is India's century," highlighting the nation as the world's most viable driver to sustain global economic growth.