UP is courting Japanese investment in green energy, autos and technology as India-Japan trade touches $27.5 billion.

The state laid out its pitch at the UP-Japan Investment Meet 2026, held in New Delhi on 19 August, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Shivraj Singh Chouhan all in attendance.

A Japanese delegation, led by Yamanashi Prefecture Governor Kotaro Nagasaki, joined the talks. Speaking at the event, Goyal pointed to some big numbers behind the push.

India-Japan trade touched around $27.5 billion in the last financial year, and Japan is now India’s fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment.

Over 1,400 Japanese companies already operate in India, spanning names like Toyota, Suzuki, Honda, Sony, Hitachi and Mitsubishi. For Uttar Pradesh specifically, the pitch rests on scale.

The state is targeting a trillion-dollar economy, has more than 9 million small and medium enterprises, and already ranks as India’s fifth-largest exporter among states. Companies such as Escorts Kubota and Seiko Advance are already part of its manufacturing base.

Goyal also flagged Japan’s broader ambition to invest 10 trillion yen in India over the next decade, with artificial intelligence, semiconductors, batteries and next-generation mobility named as priority sectors.

To sweeten the deal for UP, he pointed to infrastructure projects like Jewar International Airport, the Yamuna Expressway and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, along with 27 industrial clusters covering defence, semiconductors and electronics.

This builds on groundwork laid just two days earlier, when Uttar Pradesh kicked off a five-day investment programme running from 18 to 23 August, aimed squarely at semiconductors, data centres and digital infrastructure.

As part of that push, Escorts Kubota and Minda Corporation are setting up projects worth Rs 3,191 crore combined in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority region, expected to create over 10,000 jobs.

The main investment conference moves to Lucknow on 21 August, followed by Goyal’s visit to Japan later in the month to carry the discussions forward.

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