Japan’s SoftBank bets $10 billion on India

Signalling confidence in the India growth story under the new Narendra Modi dispensation in Delhi, Japanese telecom and internet titan SoftBank has unveiled a mammoth $10 billion investment plan for India.
The 57-year-old Masayoshi Son, Japan’s richest man and chairman of the $92 billion, disclosed his company’s investment plans during a meeting with India’s Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in Delhi on October 27.
Son also met India’s business-friendly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is understood to have conveyed his optimism about investing in Asia’s third largest company. The Japanese tycoon, whose net worth is valued at $20 billion, is betting on e-tailing and technology companies in India.
Delhi-based e-commerce start-up Snapdeal is set to be the biggest beneficiary of Son’s India drive, with his company planning to pump $627 million in the Indian company. SoftBank is also planning to plough $180 million in taxi hailing startup Olacabs.
According to Forbes magazine, Son’s net worth is $22.3 billion. Son was named the world’s 45th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine’s List of The World’s Most Powerful People in 2013.

The $10 billion investment by the Japanese internet giant is the single biggest investment to be pledged for India after Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan nearly two months ago.

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