SoftBank to invest $10 billion in India

New Delhi, Oct 27 :

Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corporation’s chairman and chief executive officer Masayoshi Son who met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday also pledged an investment of $10 billion in India’s IT and communications space, an official statement said here.

“Mr. Son told Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Japan has created a climate of hope and optimism about greater economic cooperation between India and Japan. Taking this cooperation forward, Mr. Son today assured the minister that SoftBank would like to invest approximately $10 billion in India in the coming years,” the statement said.

He made the investment proposal to Prasad during a meeting.

Earlier in the day, he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi had visited Japan from Aug 30 to Sep 3.

The CEO said India is the top most priority for SoftBank. He further expressed immense faith in the great eCommerce potential of India. He estimated it to become a $0.5-trillion business in the next 10 years.

With a market cap of $92 billion, SoftBank is one of the biggest telecom and internet corporations of Japan with operations in broadband, fixed line telecom, e-Commerce, finance, media and marketing. SoftBank already has made investments in many Indian companies like InMobi and Hike.

(IANS)