Nissan Motor Corporation and the Kerala government are learnt to have reached common ground after a visible spillover of differences over the auto maker’s plans to set up its first global research hub in the state capital. In July, the Yokohama-based automaker had blamed the Left Front government in the state of going back on its assurances extended earlier, including setting up of a single-window clearance for the project and in facilitating the development of physical infrastructure in and around the hub. A senior Kerala government official indicated that the points in contention have been resolved and that the only sticking point pertains to the issue of direct connectivity between Tokyo and Thiruvananthapuram. “The only concern Nissan had was with the social ecosystem - they wanted a direct flight from Tokyo. India only has a direct flight to Tokyo from Delhi. These kind of issues take some time to get resolved. They have around 700 people working here, they have one full tower in the IT park (Thiruvananthapuram Technopark),” M Sivasankar, Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister and Secretary of the state’s Electronics & IT Department told The Indian Express. A Kerala government official, on condition of anonymity, said that a request had already been sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for a non-stop Tokyo-Trivandrum flight, but so far there was no progress from Delhi. The Japanese carmaker, responding to queries on the issue, too indicated that it is taking forward the partnership, despite the initial hiccups. “Nissan is committed to its MoU with the Govt. of Kerala for establishing a . digital transformation hub in the state. As any routine process review we work with our partners and the Govt. alike. We are confident that our strong partnership of the Govt. will help us lead the way forward,” Bruno Grippay, director-Connected Cars and Product Planning-AMI(Africa Middles East and India) Region of Nissan told The Indian Express in a recent interview. It has been learnt that in June this year, Nissan’s chief digital officer sent a terse four-page letter to the Kerala chief secretary Tom Jose and other officials stating that Nissan has had “to approach various departments in the government towards fulfillment of conditions for our success in Trivandrum, which has been time and effort consuming, and other than running from department to department”. The automaker had sought the government’s intervention in settling these issues. Subsequently, in July, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said at a press interaction that the government has appointed a key bureaucrat as its pointsperson to assist Nissan Motor fast track the research hub project. Nissan’s entry into Kerala has spurred the development of peripheral service sector facilities, including hotels, hospitals, garbage treatment plants and apartment complexes in the area around the research hub.
