Punjab Health & Family and Labour Minister Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu today said that Progressive Punjab Investors Summit-2019 will stimulate the Indian economy, which is at present in sharp slowdown state, by attracting new major investments from national and international corporate houses in the state of Punjab.In a press communiqué released here today, the minister and MLA from Mohali said the government data showed the economic growth slowed to 4.5 per cent in the July to September quarter from 7.1 per cent in the corresponding period of last year. Mr. Sidhu said with only 1.5 per cent of land area, the state of Punjab contributes 3 per cent to India GDP and the state is home to an estimated 2 lakh registered MSMEs giving it a strong industrial base. "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 industries, MSMEs and startups", he added.Mr. Sidhu said ever since the Captain Amarinder Singh government came to power, various companies of national and international repute have invested more than Rs.50,000 crore in state. He said that new investments worth Rs.3523 crore in agro and food processing industries, Rs.8300 crore in manufacturing and light engineering, Rs.22711 crore in chemical and petrochemicals, Rs.5727 crore in education sector, Rs.2116 crore in new and renewable sources of energy sector and Rs.8027 crore in other areas on ground in last two years. He added that Punjab is open for investments in food and food processing, pharma, textile, agricultural machinery and IT and information technology-enabled services (ITeS) sectors as the state has the highest rail density in the country at 45km per 1,000 square kilometres and two international airports and world-class road connectivity.
Giving details of unmatched business ecosystem and benefits for industry, the Health Minister said that single entry-exit portal set up for all clearances, time-bound approvals ensured by law and no human touch-point for approvals. The state offers a blend of skilled manpower, robust infrastructure, industry-driven ease of doing business initiative, no truck unions, no random inspections by any officer and no labour unrest and friendly policies making it an ideal ecosystem for investment,” he added. He further said that the state government is providing annual employment subsidy of Rs.48,000 per employee for a period of five years.Mr. Sidhu said that continuously creating industrial investment friendly environment in the state, the government is organizing the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit on December 5 and 6 at Indian School of Business, Mohali, wherein the startups session, under the theme “How to Make Punjab the Next Startup Destination” to bring together all the stakeholders on a single platform. The session, moderated by Mr. Nandu (Doreswamy) Nandkishore, Former Global CEO Nestlé Nutrition & CEO of AOA, will also witness the presence of pioneers of the startup ecosystem-Mr. Ramanan Ramanathan, Chairman, Atal Innovation Mission; Mr. Taranjeet Bhamra, Founder, Agnext Technologies; Mr. Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, Bharat Fund; Mr. Akshay Sangwan, Director, Sonalika Tractors, he informed, adding that discussion will bring out the challenges faced by the State, and the possible roadmap for solving these challenges through cutting edge technological innovation. The session will also focus on the role that the state government can play in the startup ecosystem by providing support to startups at the seeding phase, prototyping and pilot phase, and scaling up phase. He said that the event was aimed at synchronizing basic infrastructure as per the needs of industries, hold discussions with other stake holders and enable new startups to nestle with the ease of doing business in Punjab.