So first of all, we'd like to talk about our mission and vision for the society. Our company mission is, as I mentioned in the past several times, in the longer history of our company, we have had an established technology, so we are here to combine cutting-edge technology with many years of expertise to provide solutions to the evolving challenges facing the world, while enriching people's lives. The society that we aim for is Mission Net Zero, and a safe, secure, and comfortable world. Where social challenges are getting much more complex, we'd like to provide realistic solutions tailored to local communities and the customers to solve societal issues. In walking that through, we'd like to start with manufacturing, expand our scope of work, both up and downstream within value chains, form partnerships, and become a hub for ecosystem to change society.
That's what we aim to be. Through such activities, we'd like to become a company which wins through the global competition. Let's move on. So first of all, I'd like to talk about the review of 2021 midterm business plan. In the 2021 MTBP, we were looking at the development of the future growth, the future growth areas, and also the recovery and the building up of the margin itself. As you may remember, when we started the plan of the 2021, the business environment was very murky. So instead of only going after the scale expansion, our focus was stayed in the profit generation recovery and also the further, stronger business relation, business establishment.
As a result, in the fiscal 2023 results, as we reported the other day, we achieved a record high profit in the building stronger business, foundation and the financial results. Also exploring the business growth, through the development of the future growth areas, we have identified the commercial opportunities in hydrogen, ammonia, CCUS, and also electrification and the data centers. The diagram down below are showing the revenue, business profit, and the net interest-bearing debt. Revenues and the business profits have both dramatically increased, while the net interest-bearing debt has been reduced. With that, the business foundation has been much stronger. With the stronger financial, backbone, we'd like to now kick off our midterm plan of 2024. So in mapping out that plan, I'd like to briefly talk about the operating environment and the expected role for our company.
As you see on the left-hand side, there are some changes in the operating environment, and we are facing several risks and the events, such as the energy risks, economic security risks, and the geopolitical risks. Against that backdrop, we are going to assume two big roles. One is the contribution to carbon neutrality. We are going to talk about that later on, but we're going to be tackling with this challenge from both supply side and the demand side, and also the contribution to national security. By showing and demonstrating our integrated capability, we'd like to achieve those targets. So now let me talk about the strategy and the targets for the midterm plan 2024. I may be repeating myself, but we would like to, first of all, strengthen portfolio management, leveraging business and financial foundations, which was established during the previous midterm plan period.
Meaning that during the plan 2024, we'd like to strike a good balance between the business growth with the profitability improvement. So for revenue, compared to the FY 2023, we shall increase by 20% to hit more than JPY 5.7 trillion, business profit to grow by 60% to go JPY 450 billion or more, as a result of which, our ROE is expected to target at 12% or more. That will be supported by the stronger technology as well as the human capital, we shall forge ahead with the Mission Net Zero. Let's move on. Let me talk about the strategy and targets in tackling with that. Well, during the period of the midterm plan of 2021, the order has grown dramatically in GTCC, nuclear power, and the defense.
In the midterm plan 2024, based upon such an order growth, we are expecting the revenue to expand of approximately JPY 1 trillion. So we shall be strengthening execution capabilities through concentrated allocation of resources for that business. And also for the growth domains, which we have seen the steady progress in the plan 2021. We shall be forging ahead with the commercialization of those growth areas in the business plan 2024 to deliver for the business plan 2020, the midterm plan of 2027 or beyond. In addition to those two domains, in the area, we have worked upon the recovery and the strengthening of the margin from the COVID and the raw material cost impact, we shall be also working upon the strengthening of the competitiveness and also the business foundation to establish to gain margin.
With that, the cash generation will be much stronger so that we can divert that for the growth opportunities. Now talking about the capital allocation plan for the midterm plan 2024. During this plan, as I mentioned earlier, with the stronger profit generation capability, the normalized operation cash flow is going to expand, as you see on the right-hand side. That's the total amount that we are expecting to reach for the midterm business plan 2024. Compared to the midterm plan 2021, the debt repayment is going to make the progress. As a result, with the increased cash flow during the term of the midterm plan 2024, investment and shareholder return will increase. Especially for the investment, it will increase by 60% to JPY 1.2 trillion.
To expand the shareholder return, half of that, JPY 750 billion, is allocated for the growing core businesses and future growth areas. For the investment to shareholders return, we have a plan to largely expand. In the mid to long term basis, the cumulative dividend is going to be the shareholder return. So the rate is going to be, going to be conducted for us to, to do so that the target is currently at 4%. Now, let me talk about specifically what we are going to do as key initiatives. The first one is the gas-turbine business, GTCC. For this GTCC business, as we have already publicized, there will be some demand, growth that we're expecting.
For example, for decarbonized fuel conversion stimulated by CO2 emissions regulations and lower the following power to stabilize grids amid expansion of renewable energy and on-site power generation for data centers and so on. Against the backdrop and market environment, the high reliability, as well as the development and the validation of the fuel conversion technology that we have worked upon, is going to make the progress, and in the future, together with the combination with the CO2 capturing technology, we shall maintain the top share. And down the road, in order to respond to and meet the very strong order intake, we shall strengthen the supply capacity by expanding facilities and the personnel. And in order to maintain the competitive edge, we need to make the aggressive investment in R&D to lead the decarbonization market.
As I mentioned earlier, the performance, high reliability, and the conversion, the fuel conversion in the future, and also the CO2 capturing, those are going to be the driver for us to lead the market. Let's move on to the next page. The next is the nuclear power. Regarding the nuclear power, against the backdrop of Japan's policy to utilize nuclear energy, we shall steadily pursue initiatives in a variety of areas to expand our businesses. Especially in the plan 2024, we will support the existing plants, the restart, and the support establishment of the nuclear fuel cycle. And so for the plants restarting of the operation, we shall perform maintenance work for the long-term and a stable plant operation. And also, there is an increasing demand for the nuclear power in a global basis.
We shall export equipment for the existing and new plants outside of Japan, too. As such, for the nuclear power into the future, we are expecting to grow this business as a steady business. Also, we shall continue design work on the advanced light water reactor, and also develop fast reactor and high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technologies as a core performer in the market. For this business as well, we shall expand the human capital resources and also work on the updating and the sophisticating production facilities. The third is defense. Regarding this defense domain, we shall expand the business by responding to the sharp increase in national security needs in Japan, as you know. For our company, we want to meet the needs coming from the national, well, especially the Stand-Off Defense or the Integrated Missile Defense.
We're gonna be working upon that and also the core development of the next generation fighter aircraft. This is going to be an important point as well. We were estimating the unmanned asset is going to be much more in progress, so that the future development in the fundamental technology is in need. So for those three domains, together with the growth business domains, we shall seize the opportunities for the demands to grow at the size of JPY 1 trillion. But next is the commercialization of the future growth areas. The first is regarding the future growth areas, as I mentioned earlier, for the carbon neutrality, we have made the effort from the supply side and the demand side. In the supply side, basically, that's a carbon capture for the hydrogen and ammonia.
For the hydrogen and ammonia in the mid-term plan 2021, in Utah in the United States, the project, hydrogen production storage and the supply project has been done in FID. For R&D, the HCC of the driving and also the development of the hydrogen being done. For the 2024 business meeting plan, the project in Utah to reach the completion is being expected. So the plant is going to be the springboard to back up the project that is going to be taking place into the future. And also, the R&D in the hydrogen and ammonia are going to be continuously done. The project driving the project for the hydrogen and ammonia, we alone, it's not going to be done by everything, so that's the upstream and downstream.
The partnering with those others is going to be quite important for us to pave the way. As the working segment, we have established GX segment. So regarding the GX, we're gonna be crystallizing the integration of all the capabilities that we have within the group. So let's move on to the next.
Next, let's move on to carbon capture. From an MTBP, we received many inquiries. This was much higher than the initial plan, and we also advanced partnering with ExxonMobil and other partners, so we could capture opportunities for various different business inquiries. In the 2024 MTBP, we aim to advance these opportunities into FID from FEED. We also have a differentiator technology, CO2 capture, and we will also develop this as next generation technology to further expand our competitive edge in this area. Domestically, we will participate in JOGMEC Advanced CCS Project. We have participated in this project, and we are trying to accelerate this commercialization.
Regarding carbon capture in each region and in each industry, the situation advancing according to the particular situation, and we will be working on partnering to try to achieve results in each of these respective, areas during the 2024 MTBP. Next slide, please. Next is electrification and data center area. This used to be called, smart, social infrastructure, electrification of social infrastructure. In the 2021 MTBP, the data center area was something that greatly advanced. And amid that situation, we have been able to acquire a service company in the United States to prepare for future commercialization. In the 24 medium-term business plan, in addition to the service business network, we will also utilize our strength in heat and electric engineering.
Data centers use a lot of power, produce a lot of heat, so we will combine power supplies, cooling systems, and energy management systems that integrate both together. We will combine all of these to provide one-stop solution to various data center projects. This is a growth area. In 2021 MTBP, we said we want JPY 1 trillion size business by 2030, and our plan is to continue to try to achieve this target. The third key initiative area is about enhancing businesses' competitiveness. I am repeating myself. In the 21 MTBP, we strengthened profitability, and we will further improve this. And in order to do that, we will make efforts in each business unit. Thermal and logistics systems have recovered from COVID.
We will further strengthen and enhance our direct sales organization, expand customer touch points to expand our sales. And in terms of metals, machinery, and commercial ships, we will work on electric furnaces, hydrogen reduction-based iron making, fuel conversion, and engineering. We will introduce these environmentally friendly products and systems to expand our business. And this is common. We will also drive DX to expand our service businesses in a continuous manner. In terms of facilities, there is high needs for reducing manpower and promoting automation, and we will also work on that area. And in the center, explanation at last for commercial aircraft engines. In addition to Tier One business, we will also reinforce our aftermarket business to improve our profitability. Next, please.
Further, in terms of environmentally friendly products, heat pumps that use natural refrigerants, engines that are clean fuel, fuel compatible, we will develop and introduce those products to expand our business. On the other hand, there are areas where our business will shrink. Due to business environment changes, there are some areas where our business will shrink, and it is necessary to optimize our business structure to drive initiatives, and it's important to drive operational efficiency, improve productivity to reallocate resources to our focus areas. And, in order to drive this, I will explain how we'll strengthen our technologies and human capital. Over to the left, as you can see in the drawing, on the bottom, we have what we have accumulated and refined our core technologies, and we will add AI, quantum technologies, cutting-edge technologies in new areas to create new customer value.
For example, we can maximize hardware potential with digital technologies. We will work in that manner. And as we try to capture a cutting-edge technology, we need to invest in startups. Open innovation needs to be done furthermore from our conventional R&D. And in terms of growth areas, we need to supplement what we lack in our business foundation to expand our business, and we also need to achieve monetization at the right point in time. And in order to achieve this, we will establish an IP strategy and create a business model to license our IP as we roll out and expand our business. Next. And one key is digital technology in order to achieve our growth strategy. Our company has, like, many technologies, products, machineries, modules.
We also have expertise to develop, operate, maintain complex machinery, and that's what we have as a common technology foundation. We can add the latest technology and knowledge to this, and turn that into a standardized digital innovation tool, so it can be used in all of our products, and we call this ΣSynX . That's the brand that we have established, and we are rolling out this to all of our product businesses. By utilizing this, we can quickly, affordably, and safely roll out digital technology. By connecting devices, products in a smart manner, we will be able to create new value. So for digital, this is something that we will be promoting in a very strong manner. Next, please. Lastly, this is about human capital, people. We will strengthen recruitment and development and also reallocate resources and also improve work styles.
Those are the things that we'll work on. There's a lot of details here. They're written on the slide. But especially in terms of recruitment, we will diversify recruitment methods without being tied to our traditional methodologies in terms of training. We want to cultivate many digital proficient personnel by 2030. We want to have more than 20,000 people, and we will be working on training and cultivation. In terms of resource reallocation, we will be visualizing the abilities that each of our people, talent have, and we will use those abilities in an optimized way. We will utilize a program that works on this to further reallocate resources to our focus areas. Lastly, this is something common to various companies, but we will also work on work style improvement.
We will especially promote flexible work styles according to employee life stages, and we will be creating the right environment to make that happen. Lastly, I will add some information about our Mission Net Zero activities. The left side diagram is a little bit busy and difficult to see. Currently in Mihara Machinery Works, we are promoting efforts to achieve a carbon neutral plant. So in the factory, we produce CO2. We will utilize the MAC Curve techniques to create a carbon neutral concept, and for example, we will turn heat sources, do electrification, reduce energy demand, and we have already installed solar power generation facilities. So for the power that's used inside the plant, that can be supplied by solar power, so we are working on things in an integrated, comprehensive manner. This is going to be a model factory for us.
The expertise we gain here, the new management system we create here, this is going to be also rolled out to other plants, and it is also going to be rolled out to customer plants locations, so we can contribute to a carbon neutral world. Lastly, conclusion. As I mentioned in the very beginning, for the 2021 MTBP, we have pretty much achieved what was originally planned, and we have been able to reduce interest-bearing debt, and we have been able to increase dividend payouts. In 2024 MTBP, we have strengthened our business foundation. We will utilize the business foundation to move on to the next big movements. As I did mention earlier, we will be focusing on exiting our business portfolio. We will increase our growth potential.
We will attempt to grow our business, improve profitability, to grow the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group. We look forward to your continued support. This ends my explanation. Thank you for your attention.