The Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) held “MRAI Roadshow” at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on August 4, bringing together recycling companies from across Japan.
MIRU took part as an event partner, with MIRU’s Risa Sugihara serving as the roadshow’s moderator and Japanese-English interpreter.
The event served as a lead-up to the 4th MRAI International Business Summit (IBS2026), set for August 31 and September 1 at The Westin Tokyo.
For more details, please see the link below:
https://business-summit.mrai.org.in/register.html
MRAI Director B.K. Soni opened the event, welcoming industry representatives and policymakers from India and Japan alike. He stressed the importance of India-Japan cooperation in advancing the circular economy before giving an overview of MRAI’s work.
MRAI Secretary General Amar Singh followed with a presentation titled “India-Japan Trade Relations: Current Scenario and Future Business Potential.” He introduced India as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with GDP expanding roughly 6.5% a year, and pointed to its demographic edge: a population of about 1.445 billion, a median age of 29, and a middle class topping 500 million.
India’s domestic scrap demand, he said, is set to grow from around 152 million tons today to nearly 255 million tons by 2030, with the country already importing about 9 million tons a year. Cumulative Japanese investment in India has passed $40 billion, and more than 1,500 Japanese firms now operate there. “Japan has the technology and India has the market,” Singh said, urging Japanese companies to become long-term partners.
Masao Montani, director and senior managing executive officer at Daiki Aluminium Industry Co., also took the podium. He introduced the company’s Indian subsidiary, established in 2018 in Andhra Pradesh, has a monthly output capacity of 8,800 tons — the largest single-site secondary aluminum alloy plant in India. Producing a ton of primary aluminum generates roughly 10 tons of CO2, he noted, compared with just 0.3 tons for secondary aluminum made from scrap. He projected India’s four-wheeler production would climb from about 6.7 million units in 2025 to around 9 million by 2030.
MRAI President Sanjay Mehta, presenting on IBS2026, laid out the scale of India’s infrastructure push: the national highway network has grown from about 91,000 km in 2014 to roughly 146,000 km today, while the number of airports has more than doubled, from 74 to 158, with 250 expected by 2030. Japan’s metal scrap exports to India hit 250,000 tons in fiscal 2025, he said, up 43.4% year on year and growing at a five-year CAGR of 45%, with ferrous scrap accounting for 91.7% of the total.
IBS2026 has already drawn more than 650 pre-registrations, Mehta said, and is expected to bring in over 900 delegates from more than 50 countries, with a plant tour program planned for after the conference. He closed his presentation on a forceful note: “The next great industrial transformation belongs to India. The question is no longer whether India will grow but who will grow with India.”
Naveed Trumboo, First Secretary at the Embassy of India in Tokyo, served as chief guest. Referencing the India-Japan summit held in July, he said about ¥1.66 trillion of Japan’s ¥10 trillion private investment target for India had already been executed over the previous 10 months. He also pointed to growing Japanese financial involvement in India, including stakes taken by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank in Indian financial institutions.
Trumboo touched on Indian government policies aimed at improving resource efficiency — including the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework, battery waste management rules, and the vehicle scrappage policy — as well as India-Japan cooperation spanning infrastructure, manufacturing, mobility, semiconductors, finance, and agriculture. He called on Japanese companies to explore investment opportunities through IBS2026 and to support India’s “Viksit Bharat (Developed India) 2047” vision.
The roadshow closed with a networking session and cocktail dinner. Registration for IBS2026 is now open, with a discount available for Japanese companies.
Related Article：MRAI International Business Summit (IBS 2026)
