To more than Rs 14,000 crore investment it has garnered, so far, Punjab added another Rs 365 crore on Wednesday when deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal handed over letters of allotment and sites to Kansai Nerolac Paints and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for setting up their plants at Goindwal, 60 kilometers from the Pakistan border in Tarn Taran district.
Sukhbir said the investment was attestation of both the peaceful environment in the state and the investor confidence in Punjab. He said land for a World Trade Centre at SAS Nagar had also been allotted and this and other upcoming projects would create almost 1 lakh jobs. "Pre-cleared sites were being offered for the first time ever to both Nerolac and IOC. The companies also have all the certificates and clearances from the forest, electricity, pollution-control and industries departments to be able to start work today, if they want," he added.
For the first time, pre-cleared sites from a land pool of 300 acres were being offered to the investors, Sukhbir said, inviting companies to take advantage of industrial park schemes such as the one coming up on 400 acres at Rajpura. Kansai Nerolac, India's second largest paint company, has received 35-acre industrial land in Goindwal Industrial Complex for developing water-based and powder-coating paints, with a project cost of about `250 crore. Another 30 acres in the complex has gone to IOC for an LPG-bottling plant worth `115 crore.
Answering a query, Sukhbir said the international airport opening in SAS Nagar on September 11 would change the look and the feel of Punjab industry by giving the state global air connectivity. "I rate the airport my second biggest achievement after making Punjab power surplus. The next target is to lay a world-class road network in the state," he said. The deputy CM says 600 pre-cleared sites are ready be offered to investors, while industrial giants such as ITC, Cargill, Amul, Infosys, DSM, Vardhman, Tube Investment and Azure Power were in the state already.
{{/usCountry}}Answering a query, Sukhbir said the international airport opening in SAS Nagar on September 11 would change the look and the feel of Punjab industry by giving the state global air connectivity. "I rate the airport my second biggest achievement after making Punjab power surplus. The next target is to lay a world-class road network in the state," he said. The deputy CM says 600 pre-cleared sites are ready be offered to investors, while industrial giants such as ITC, Cargill, Amul, Infosys, DSM, Vardhman, Tube Investment and Azure Power were in the state already.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Invest Punjab chief executive officer (CEO) Anirudh Tiwari listed the state's achievements in winning investment over the past one year. "Punjab has cleared 216 projects worth `14,640 crore. Of these 216 ventures, 39% are in the agro- and food-processing sector and 30% in manufacturing. ITC is coming up with a food park worth `900 crore near Kapurthala, which will be it largest plant in India. Existing industry has received incentives for the expansion projects of Sonalika, Nahar and Ultra Tech Cement," he said.
Goindwal projects
Nerolac: On 35 acres, `250-cr plant to make water-based, powder-coating paints
IOC: On 30 acres, `115-crore plant to bottle LPG
Punjab scene
`14,000 cr total investment, so far
1 lakh jobs expected to be created
300 acres pre-cleared sites for investors