South-based companies keen to invest in state, says Sukhbir
The Punjab government on Saturday claimed that the owners and chief executive officers (CEOs) of top companies based in Kerala and Tamil Nadu had shown a keen interest in setting up shop in the border state.
The Punjab government on Saturday claimed that the owners and chief executive officers (CEOs) of top companies based in Kerala and Tamil Nadu had shown a keen interest in setting up shop in the border state.
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is visiting South Indian states, held a series of meetings with the industrialists. "Punjab is all set to attract investment in agro-processing, information technology and Ayurveda, besides other sectors," a spokesperson said, quoting Sukhbir.
During his visit, the deputy CM addressed the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Southern Regional Council, and met several industrialists in one-to-one meetings.
During an interaction with the deputy CM, IBS software executive chairman VK Mathews said the company was looking for avenues to expand in the northern region and Mohali. He said he would himself lead a company team to Chandigarh to take this proposal forward. He displayed keen interest in visiting the Information Technology (IT) Park in Mohali where Infosys is coming up with a 25,000-seat facility, the spokesperson said.
Later, Sukhbir made a detailed presentation at the CII meeting, detailing how the SAD-BJP alliance had worked with the mission to make the state power surplus, besides improving connectivity by establishing two international and four domestic airports. Sukhbir told the gathering that within a year, each village in the state would have a 4G internet network.
Sukhbir said due to these efforts as well as establishing a single point clearance in the Invest Punjab office, the state had been successful in clearing 210 projects with an investment of `1,500 crore in the last one and a half year.
"All you have to do is visit the office of Invest Punjab where you have to deal with one person only. All necessary clearances to set up new units would be given in 30 days," he added.
Punjab Industry minister Madan Mohan Mittal also chaired meetings with prospective investors separately.
Others present at the meetings included chief parliamentary secretary NK Sharma; media adviser to deputy chief minister Jangveer Singh; principal secretary (investment promotion) Karan Avtar Singh; Invest Punjab CEO Anirudh Tewari; special principal secretary to deputy CM Rahul Tewari and Punjab Small Industries and Export Promotion (PSIEC) managing director Amit Dhaka.