The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh while failing to disclose what investment he had got into Punjab during his five year tenure as chief minister had started waffling and resorting to lies and slander to cover his failures.In a statement here, senior SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said “should we disbelieve Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani who announced only two days back that his company had invested Rs 3,900 crore in the State”.He said this was not all. Airtel, which was laying 4 G connectivity in Punjab, had already spent Rs 1,328 crore. He said even home grown entrepreneurs had reposed faith in Punjab and opened new businesses besides expanding old ones. He said among this year’s major investors were Garg Acrylics who had invested Rs 322 crore, Nahar which had invested Rs 150 crore, International Tractors who had invested Rs 213 crore and Madhav Alloys who had spent Rs 109 crores besides thousands of crores spent by other investors including big solar companies.The SAD leader also urged Amarinder not to resort to slander against corporate czars who had invested in the State. He said it was against Punjabi tradition to slander corporate heads who had come to attend the Invest Punjab summit by saying they had participated in a corporate ramp walk.
“The truth of the matter is that few of the corporates who attended including Mr GVK Reddy of GVK group have already invested thousands of crores and want to invest more in the State”. He went on to say “I understand you have been stung by the praise heaped on the State as well as Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for the dynamism shown by him in attracting an investment of Rs 43,000 crore besides signing mous of 1.15 lakh crore”.Mr Grewal said the SAD- BJP government did not need any certificate from Amarinder, who was not only a failed leader but also a failure as chief minister as he failed to attract any investment into the State. “The SAD-BJP government however has not only brought in an investment of Rs 22,000 crore in the form of the Bathinda refinery but also multi thousand crore investments in the form of four thermal plants. The State is now gearing up to witness investment by Infosys besides other top companies including ITC, Cargill, BSA Cycles, Apollo hospitals and many more, Mr Grewal added. EOM