A broad consensus emerged on Thursday, at the session on ‘Building Partnerships for Inclusive Growth’, on the need for state governments to maintain continuity and stability in their policies over periods of change in the ruling political dispensation.The delegates also appreciated Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for taking bold steps in this direction, which would bolster the investors’ confidence. The session witnessed healthy deliberations on the enormous opportunities of growth and development of industry in Punjab under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh.The session was moderated by the Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry Chandrajit Banerjee and the panellists included Executive Chairman, East India Hotels PRS Oberoi, Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank Uday Kotak, Vice-Chairman, Bharti Enterprise Rakesh Mittal, Chairman, Hinduja Group Europe Prakash Hinduja, Chairman, Hero Enterprise Sunil Kant Munjal and Vice Chairman & Joint Managing Director, Vardhman Textiles Suchita Jain.Taking part in the deliberations, Munjal said that Punjab is an excellent state to make investments as it has abundant peace-loving and skilled labour, besides the best infrastructure in terms of affordable and uninterrupted power. He said the enterprising nature of Punjabis is a catalyst of industrial growth in the state. He complimented Captain Amarinder Singh for bringing sweeping reforms in the new Industrial and Business Policy to attract investments in the state.Rakesh Bharti Mittal stressed on the need for quality education and skill development, which were prerequisite for a robust industrial base in any state.
He said the Bharti Group had made significant investment in education and sanitation in the rural sector in Punjab. It was the need to diversify agriculture and provide self-sustainable marketing mechanism to procure the produce of the farmers at remunerative prices, he said, even as underscored the need to create synergy between industry and agriculture to focus on agro based industry in the MSME sector.Suchita Jain said that the Vardhman Group had played a pivotal role in the industrial development of the state and had forayed into steel, after textiles. She also informed that her Group had recently tied up with Japan’s steel major Aiche to tap the automotive sector. She further revealed that Vardhman had engaged nearly 30 percent woman workers in their units and were providing all basic facilities, including boarding, lodging and transportation to them. PRS Oberoi said that tourism and hospitality was the major sector for development of any state, and Punjab had tremendous religious tourism potential, which could be optimally utilised. He lauded the Punjab Government for organising the Investors Summit, which would go a long way in boosting trust and confidence amongst the prospective entrepreneurs for making investments in the state.Prakash Hinduja offered world-class technology, procured from the United States, Japan and Israel, to tackle the menace of pollution causes due to burning of crop residue.Uday Kotak said described lending as an important facet of providing financial support for initiation of any new venture. He said that their bank had extended loan facility to the new entrepreneurs to the extent of 150 percent, against the total deposits of 100 percent. He commended the state government’s initiative to hold this Summit, which would help garner more investments for the state. Earlier, Japanese Ambassador Satoshi Suzuki thanked Captain Amarinder for extending invitation to his country to be a part of this mega event. He hoped that the summit would prove to be a healthy platform for building partnerships between Punjab and Japan in several emerging sectors.