In the run-up to the 3rd edition of Progressive Punjab Investors’ Summit, slated to be held on December 5 & 6, 2019 at Indian School of Business (ISB) Mohali, the state government organised pre-summit interactions at Ludhiana today. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is the Institutional Partner to the Government of Punjab for organising the Investors’ Summit.The pre-summit interaction focused on apprising the business community based out of Ludhiana of the pro-industry initiatives taken by the State over the last two years to propel industrial growth.Mr Manpreet Singh Badal, Finance Minister Punjab informed that ever since the Capt Amarinder Singh government came to power in the state, various companies have invested more than Rs 50,000 crore in Punjab. He said, “Punjab is open for investments particularly in sectors, including food and food processing, pharma, textile, agricultural machinery and IT & ITeS.” Citing the benefits, the state has to offer, Mr Badal said that Punjab has the highest rail density in India at 45 km per 1000 square kilometres. The state has two international airports and world class road connectivity. Punjab’s robust Industrial and Business Policy 2017 offers attractive incentives for both expansion and new projects in manufacturing as well as service sector for all Large, MSME and Startups.Mr Sunder Sham Arora, Minister of Industries & Commerce, Punjab, stated that with only 1.5% of land area Punjab contributes 3% to India’s GDP, Punjab is home to an estimated 2 lakh registered MSMEs giving it a strong industrial base. “Punjab offers a blend of skilled manpower, robust infrastructure, industry driven ease of doing business initiative and friendly policies making it an ideal ecosystem for investment”, he added.
He also clarified on matters related to Commerce & Industry and assured that the department would render complete support to the industry.Mr Rajat Agarwal, CEO, Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion, Government of Punjab, while addressing the industry members mentioned that Punjab Government is providing annual employment subsidy of Rs 48,000 per employee for a period of five years.Mr Agarwal gave a detailed presentation on various initiatives of the State government. He encouraged them to set up anchor units and assured that the government would provide full support in terms of infrastructure and speedy clearances. Mr Agarwal opined that the Punjab Industry should also make optimum use of ZED and Cluster schemes offered by the Government of India.Additional Chief Secretary Industries Mrs Vini Mahajan also addressed the industrialists and said that these outreach initiatives form the base of the Progressive Punjab Investor Summit which will be an ideal platform to experience the success story of Punjab and explore the numerous investment opportunities offered by the State.Prominent among those present on the occasion included MLAs Mr Rakesh Pandey, Mr Surinder Dawar and Mr Sanjay Talwar, Mr Gurpreet Singh Bassi, Chairman, PSIEC, Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka, Chairman, PMIDB, Mr Pawan Dewan, Chairman, PLIDB, Mr KK Bawa, Chairman, PSIDC, Mr Rajinder Gupta, Mr Abhishek Gupta, Vice Chairman, Trident Group, Mr Upkar Singh Ahuja, Managing Director, New Swan Industry, Mr Ashish Garg, Director, Happy Forgings Ltd, Mr Pankaj Munjal, Chairman, Hero Cycles, Mr Bhavdeep Sardana, Sr. Vice President & CEO, The Sukhjit Starch & Chemicals Ltd, Mr Kamna Raj Aggrawalla, Director, GDPA Fasteners Ltd and Rajesh Kharbanda, CEO, Freewill Sports Limited (Nivia), Deputy Commissioner Mr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, MC Commissioner Mrs Kanwal Preet Kaur Brar, CA GLADA Mr Parminder Singh Gill, besides several others.