NEW DELHI, February 16 (Reuters): State Bank of India launched an initiative on Tuesday to help strengthen business ties between Asia's third-largest economy and Japan, where investors eyeing Indian markets need support in navigating the country's notoriously complex bureaucracy. SBI dedicated Japan desk offers wholesale and retail banking products like rupee funding for Japanese businesses and banks, as well as guidance on Indian companies and regulations. Japan is the fourth largest foreign investor in India, and PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, who enjoy a close relationship, have made much of the opportunity for both countries as India tries to grow its manufacturing industries. But Japanese firms investing in India face complex and at times baffling regulatory hurdles. India ranked 130th in the World Bank's latest ease of "Doing Business" report of 189 countries.
