Non-toxic politics: How fish curry and Shashi Tharoor helped Keralam swing a Nissan deal

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How fish curry and Shashi Tharoor helped Kerala swing a Nissan deal
By ET Online | Updated: Jul 25, 2018, 03.01 PM IST

When a video conference was held with Nissan officials, Tharoor's knowledge of French played a key role.
What are the chances of a state ruled by a communist government, where strikes and shutdowns are part of the industrial routine, bagging an investment from a big multinational automaker? Very slight. So, how did Kerala manage to swing the Nissan deal?

On June 29, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. signed a deal to set up a digital innovation hub in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The digital hub will be a research and development facility that will be shared by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, a Franco-Japanese strategic partnership. Nissan’s digital hub will function as the nerve centre of the company’s research in electric and automated vehicles. The state government will allot 30 acres in the first phase and another 40 acres in the second phase. This is the first digital hub of Nissan coming up globally.

Ruled by communist governments for long, Kerala has a strong trade union culture which few multinational manufacturers would find encouraging. Oracle Corp of the US was the last multinational company to set shop in Kerala seven years ago.


How did the Kerala government convince Nissan?
It all started with a Keralite manager of Nissan. A few tech professionals in Thiruvananthapuram hosted Antony Thomas, Nissan’s chief information officer, at a Christmas Eve dinner in 2017, according to a Mint report. Thomas also had communist background which helped. He was an official of a pro-Left student’s union during his college days in the city, says the report. On the request of those who hosted Thomas, Congress MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Nissan. According to the report, on February 25, Tharoor met Thomas, who was back in town to help with his son’s Class 10 board exam, and discussed the Nissan investment.

When a video conference was held with Nissan officials, Tharoor's knowledge of French played a key role. According to the report, the head of the Nissan team was from France and Tharoor, a former UN diplomat, talked about Kerala’s advanced socio-economic indicators for an hour in French. CM Vijayan invited the Japanese team home and served them homemade fish curry, says the report


Vijayan also sought help of BJP’s Kerala leader and Union minister of state for information technology KJ Alphons who immediately flew down for a breakfast meeting with the Nissan team to show how opposition too was cooperating.

Though Tharoor's French and Vijayan's fish curry helped swing the deal, some of the real factors were existing talent pool in IT and engineering, airport connectivity, cost effectiveness, quality of life, social amenities, lack of traffic problems, among other things. The decision was also based on positive feedback from the successful IT companies at Technopark where the Nissan hub would be located.

Nissan’s digital innovation hub will host a team of engineers and scientists who will be initiating research & development (R&D) work in artificial intelligence, cognitive analytics, machine learning and other digital technologies. On setting up operations the company is expected to generate 3000 direct and multi times indirect employment opportunities. This campus will be named as Nissan Knowledge City.

“With Nissan’s strategic engagement, we are confident that we will be able to rope in a host of IT companies also to our state,” Technopark CEO Hrishikesh Nair told ET.

 

[KapitaanAli]

NISSAN TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST GLOBAL DIGITAL HUB IN INDIA

Agreement with Government of Kerala paves way for new center to drive Nissan’s digital transformation


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (June 29, 2018) –Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Kerala to establish a new global center for digital operations in India.

The Nissan Digital Hub will be the first of a number of software and information technology development centers in Asia, Europe and North America. These will comprehensively transform Nissan’s business by placing digital technology at the heart of key operations and services.

The hubs will allow Nissan to provide best-in-class user experiences, product development capabilities, security and connectivity as the automotive industry evolves, with growing use of autonomous, connected and electric vehicle technology. The first center will
initially be in Technopark – a technology park owned by the government of Kerala in Trivandrum – before moving to a permanent location in the city. Once fully operational, it will provide a range of in-house services to strengthen Nissan’s digital capabilities in India and other global markets.

“The new Digital Hub in Kerala will serve as an important engine to drive Nissan’s global digital transformation,” said Tony Thomas, corporate vice president and chief information officer at Nissan. “This hub will help us develop and maintain a talented workforce in-house, to improve the way we serve our customers around the world.”

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The investment to build the new Digital Hub adds to Nissan's commitment to India. Together with its Alliance partner Renault, Nissan already has a large manufacturing plant outside Chennai with a potential annual capacity of 480,000 vehicles for the domestic market and exports. A global Alliance R&D center, also in Chennai, employs 7,000 engineers working on projects including vehicle and technology development. Nissan's sales company for India is based in Gurgaon.

“Today, this landmark announcement marks the arrival of the first global brand to Kerala,” said Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister for the government of Kerala, who also holds the information technology portfolio and attended the MoU signing. “The center brings a great opportunity for both Nissan and the region. It will not only provide Nissan access to a skilled and dedicated workforce but also allow Kerala to showcase its significant potential as a base for global business."

Peyman Kargar, chairman of Nissan’s Africa, Middle East and India region, added: “The creation of Nissan’s first global Digital Hub in India reflects our commitment to this growing market and our belief in investing in India for the long term. Harnessing the skills and talents of the workforce in India is another way that Nissan is working to capture the full potential of the region.”

About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, INFINITI and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2017, the company sold 5.77 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.9 trillion yen. On April 1, 2017, the company embarked on Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, a six-year plan targeting a 30% increase in annualized revenues to 16.5 trillion yen by the end of fiscal 2022, along with cumulative free cash flow of 2.5 trillion yen. As part of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, the company plans to extend its leadership in electric vehicles, symbolized by the world's best-selling all electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF. Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia & Oceania; Africa, the Middle East & India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America. Nissan has partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999 and acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in 2016. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is today the world’s largest automotive partnership, with combined sales of more than 10.6 million vehicles in calendar year 2017.

 

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Waiting for it to be snatched away by cbn...

 

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Nissan's first global digital hub inaugurated at Trivandrum IT park

Gireesh Babu | Chennai | Last Updated at December 10 2018 22:43 IST

Nissan Motor logo. File photo

The Nissan Global Digital Hub was officially inaugurated on Monday at Trivandrum, Kerala. This centre will drive digital transformation for Nissan's business by placing digital technology at the heart of key operations and services.

Speaking after inaugurating the hub, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Nissan coming to Thiruvananthapuram marks the beginning of a new era for Kerala IT (Information technology). We will do our best to ensure Kerala proves to be Nissan's second home after Japan."

The facility, located in Kerala's IT hub, Technopark, in Thiruvananthapuram, is the first of a number of software and information technology development centres slated to come up in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.

The hub in Thiruvananthapuram will allow Nissan to provide application portfolio management, best-in-class user experiences, product development capabilities, data science, cybersecurity and connectivity as the automotive industry evolves, with growing use of autonomous, connected and electric vehicle technology, said an official release.

Union Minister of State for Tourism, K J Alphons, said, "The Government of India is keen and proactive in supporting investments in the technology sector and that has contributed to Nissan's decision to set up their first global digital hub in India."

"We are excited to accomplish this key milestone in the journey of Nissan Digital. This hub in India will serve as an important engine to drive Nissan's global digital transformation and we already have some of the finest technology talent driving outcomes to serve our customers around the world better," said Tony Thomas, corporate vice-president and chief information officer at Nissan.