Sitharaman and JBIC Governor Discuss Clean Energy and Critical Minerals Cooperation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Japan Bank for International Cooperation Governor Kazuhiko Amakawa in Bangkok on 16 October 2026 on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF annual meetings.

The finance ministry said the discussions covered expansion of cooperation in clean energy, energy transition, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, critical minerals, electric mobility and resilient supply chains. Specific instruments mentioned included the $600 million India-Japan Fund and Japanese participation in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.

Amakawa highlighted investments already made by the India-Japan Fund in electric mobility and bioethanol and expressed interest in a follow-on fund. He noted JBIC’s stake in the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation and growing Japanese interest in semiconductor facilities, including at Dholera, as well as in artificial intelligence and data centres.

Investment focus

Sitharaman encouraged Japanese investors to examine data-centre opportunities in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, including Visakhapatnam, as a way to support more balanced urban development. Both sides recorded the potential to deepen economic and financial cooperation and to draw on each other’s experience.

Earlier the same day Sitharaman delivered a keynote address on India’s urban development programmes under the theme of making cities investable and mobilising private capital for urban and water infrastructure.

The meeting continues a pattern of high-level India-Japan economic dialogue that has focused on manufacturing, infrastructure and technology supply chains. Critical minerals and semiconductor production have become recurring items as both countries seek to reduce concentration risks in those sectors.

No new binding agreements were announced. The exchange centred on existing funds, corridor projects and possible next steps for private capital in data centres and advanced manufacturing.