In a bid to further promote the startup eco-system in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday approved the Punjab Startup Hub, under which a state-of-the-art incubation center is proposed to be set up in Mohali.The Chief Minister also gave the nod to the constitution of a high level committee to draft a proposal for resettlement and rehabilitation of those who would be affected in the process of eviction from panchayati land for setting up of industrial hubs across the state. The committee will comprise Financial Commissioner Revenue, Principal Secretary Rural Development and Panchayats and Principal Secretary Finance.The directives were issued by the Chief Minster while chairing the maiden meeting of Punjab Industrial and Business Development Board, which has been set up to ensure smooth and effective implementation of the new industrial policy.
Reaffirming his strong commitment to boost industry in the state, Captain Amarinder directed officials to further streamline requisite permission processes so as to ensure congenial industrial atmosphere, besides providing a level playing field to all the interested industrialists and entrepreneurs to set up their ventures in the state. He also reiterated his government's firm resolve to providing the basic infrastructure to the industrialists for leveraging Punjab as the most favoured investment destination in the country.Underlining the need to capitalize on the opportunities in the leather sector, Captain Amarinder directed the Industries Department to explore possibilities of setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle at Jalandhar under the Mega Leather Cluster Scheme of Government of India.Taking part in the deliberations, Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu also emphasized the need to set up Special Economic Zones for Sports and Leather industries at Jalandhar to tap the immense export potential of both sectors. Reviewing the status of the hi-tech cycle valley to be setup at Ludhiana, Chief Minister was informed that the concept plan was at the final stage and further 80 acres of land had been made available by Dhanansu village panchayat in addition to the already procured 300 acres of land. Captain Amarinder accepted the proposal to ascertain the feasibility of the land pooling scheme while acquiring land for industrial projects across the state.
Earlier, Cabinet Minister Brahm Mohindra informed the Chief Minister about the impending litigation in the process of land acquisition by the government under the integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) at Rajpura under Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor. It was also informed that out of 1000 acres required for setting up of IMC, the PSIEC had already identified 206 acres for the first phase.On the issue of maintenance and upgradation of focal points, Chief Minister directed PSIEC to explore the PPP model and appoint consultants for assisting the Industry Department in upgrading infrastructure on immediate basis to facilitate industrial growth.Regarding the setting up of Bio-Technology Park at Mohali, Captain Amarinder directed the industries department to further expedite the takeover process of 80 acres of land, which has been earmarked by the department. The Financial Commissioner Revenue informed the Chief Minister that 40 acres of required land for establishing Electronic System & Design Manufacturing Cluster in and around Mohali would be made available on the top priority.
Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh, Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, PWD Minister Razia Sultana, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Housing and FCR Vinni Mahajan, ACS Taxation MP Singh, ACS Development Vishwajit Khanna, Principal Secretary Labour Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Anjali Bhawra, ACS Forests and Wildllife Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary cipal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Principal Secretary Science and Technology Roshan Sunkaria, CEO Invest Punjab and Secretary Industries Rakesh Verma, Director Industries DPS Kharbanda, Director Tourism and Cultural Affairs Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon and Special Secretary Expenditure Abhinav Trikha.