Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has sought reports from the Ludhiana DC and PSIEC on the poor focal point infrastructural development in the region’s focal points and industrial estates, after the issue was raised by a delegation of Ludhiana industrialists and CII representatives which met him here on Tuesday.The Chief Minister has also assured the industry that his government would provide all the necessary facilities to facilitate industrial development in Ludhiana.The assurance came at the meeting, which was also attended, among others by a delegation of Avon Cycles. At the meeting, the CII submitted to the Chief Minister a 10-point agenda for the development of industries in Ludhiana.In their submission, the CII said the condition of Link roads in Industrial areas was really bad, thus affecting the movement of goods and personnel and also giving a negative impression to international clients visiting the city. Even the SPVs and other similar joint working groups, formed in some places with the participation of the local administration, industry and society were struck in procedural delays resulting in little or no progress on the ground.
Pointing out that the one of the provisions of SPV specifies that 25% of the money be collected from the public, the delegation said the Government should either compensate this part from the taxes it collects from Industry or it should set up a dedicated authority that should take the responsibility of getting this money collected from SPV members/ public. An official spokesman said after the meeting that while the Chief Minister expressed his inability to provide any fiscal incentives or packages to industry, in view of the critical financial health of the state, he made it clear that his government would extend all possible help to them in creating a favourable environment for their growth.The Chief Minister asked for reports from the DC and the PSIEC on the failure to develop the region over the past 8-9 years.Expressing appreciation to the Chief Minister for giving the go-ahead for the setting up of a cycle valley, the delegation also requested for the development of a cycle track in Ludhiana city as part of its development as a Smart City. They also demanded operationalization of the airport in the city, to which the Chief Minister said he had asked the concerned officials to initiate the process of acquiring land to extend the runway to 4 kms. In response to their demand for a permanent exhibition ground in Ludhiana for the industry, Captain Amarinder said he had already approved the same.
On their demand for the refund of pending VAT, the Chief Minister said the government would not be able to give any financial packages to the industry in the current circumstances but would not be found lacking with respect to provisions of any facilities needed for industrial development.Other issues raised by the delegation included uninterrupted power supply, waiver of additional cess on power supplied to large units, creation of adequate housing facilities for migrant labour and work force, environment protection and pollution check, as well as support for the local MSMEs in technology up-gradation and modernization.The delegation sought creation of a dedicated fund for technology transfer and modernization of MSME sector, in addition to Government of India Scheme of Credit Link Capital Subsidy Scheme for Technology Upgradation. It also called for the creation of a special fund for Intellectual Property registrations assistance, as well as institutionalization of a mechanism for linking the industry, particularly in the MSME segment, with Centre of Excellence.Other delegation members at the meeting included Onkar Singh Pahwa (Avon Cycles), Sanjiv Pahwa (Ralson), Manjinder Singh (KS Munjal Industry) and Manjit Singh (Bonn Bread).The Chief Minister was accompanied by Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral and Deputy Principal Secretary to CM Amrit Kaur Gill.