Land bank of 3000 acres to be created on Chandigarh Highway

                                             Sukhbir Singh Badal

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal presiding over a high level meeting to review the status of incoming projects  and functioning of Punjab Investment Promotion Board in his office at Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Chandigarh, June 17, 2014: Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab today asked the Chief Secretary to create a suitable land bank of at least of 3000 acres on Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway with a view to cater the needs of investors for setting up of new ventures.

Reviewing the status of incoming projects to the state and functioning of Punjab Investment Promotion Board, the Deputy CM asked the Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal to create a land bank near Dera Bassi with inbuilt 4/6 lane roads along with other basic amenities. Badal said Punjab would also create adequate land banks in different areas of the State to facilitate investors for setting up of new ventures.

Focusing on the new areas of investment, Badal said Punjab would concentrate on 7 areas and take investment promotion in these areas as a mission. He said these areas were Garment Exporting, Electronics Hardware, Bio Sciences, Food Processing, IT, Pharma and Auto Parts/Automobile. He said  hubs in these areas would be developed in New Chandigarh, Mohali and at few other places. He said  he would personally visit to the top players of these sectors to convince them for invest in Punjab as we have a plethora of incentives, facilities and dedicated teams for cooperation and liaison.

Badal also disclosed that Punjab was contemplating creating a cluster related to garments at Ludhiana, which would generate opportunities of employment pushing state forward in this area.

 The Deputy CM also informed the meeting that they were contemplating to setup Regional Offices for Investment Promotion to make the provision of services easier. He said the new offices may be introduced at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda.

 The Deputy CM also emphasized that before hosting second investment promotion summit there would be a feedback session to know the hindrances on the part of government, if any, being faced by the investors. He said that next summit would showcase the achievements of Investment Vision of Punjab and implementation of policies in true spirit.

Badal also asked the concerned officers to hold discussions with top IT, education and pharma players of the country to apprise the reasons and benefits to invest in Punjab. Mr. Badal said IT, Edu and Medi cities in new Chandigarh would be developed as most planned city with the availability of world class infrastructure and ultra modern amenities. He said these cities would be established on the lines of top world universities, pharma centers and IT hubs.  He also asked them to convene a meeting with top players so he can personally convey them why Punjab is ideal state for investment.

Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Sarvesh Kaushal, Chief Secretary, D.P. Reddy, Financial Commissioner Taxation, Anirudh Tewari, CEO Investment Promotion, A.Venu Prasad, Secretary Housing, Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary Industries, P.S. Aujla, Principal Secretary to Deputy CM, Manvesh Singh Sindu and Rahul Tewari, both Special Principal Secretaries to Deputy CM.