1. Consul General Prakash Gupta paid an official visit to Changshu, Taicang and Wujiang in Suzhou district on March 2, 2017 and met with Mr. Wang Yang, Party Secretary of Changshu. During discussions held with Changshu leadership, Consul General encouraged companies from Changshu to take advantage of the opportunities available under the Make in India initiative and welcomed their investments in infrastructure, renewable energy and smart cities development.  It was also discussed to organize an India Week celebration covering various aspects of Indian culture and yoga related activities in the second half of 2017. 

2. During the visit to Changshu, Consul General also paid the visit to Tata Group’s Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) manufacturing facility, which was set up as joint venture with the Cherry Group in October 2014. The facility produces three models of JLR with an annual production capacity of nearly 1,30,000 units. It may be noted that the JLR unit in Changshu is one of Tata Group’s leading revenue generating investments in mainland China. 

3. Separately, in the afternoon, Consul General paid a visit to one of India’s leading textile manufacturing units, i.e. the LMW Group (Laxmi Machine Works) in Wujiang.  With nearly 150 Chinese workers, it is one of LMW Group’s most successful maiden investments outside India. Consul General interacted with LMW leadership as well as gave a tour of the facilities including the supply chain involved. 

4. Later in the afternoon, Consul General also visited the Hareon Solar production facility in Taicang and interacted with its leadership.  It may be noted that Hareon Solar Group already has a joint venture investment with Dalmia Group in India and it is setting up (on its own) a large manufacturing facility in Vizag to manufacture solar PV cells, which is likely to be operational by end of 2017.  During the discussions with Hareon Solar, Consul General addressed their queries on project investment/expansion in India. 

5. It is proposed to deepen economic and cultural exchanges with Changshu (Suzhou) being a focus partner for the Indian Consulate in the Eastern China region during 2017. 

Changshu (Suzhou)

3 March 2017