The Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Government’s facilitation of a robust industrial ecosystem, conducive business environment and forward-looking industrial policies have fetched investments worth Rs 91,000 crore in over 2,900 project proposals received during the last four years. Nearly 50 per cent of them have already begun their commercial productions in different parts of the state.This was shared by the Chief Secretary, Vini Mahajan, during a meeting with a delegation of JK Paper Ltd, led by its vice-chairman and managing director, Harsh Pati Singhania, here.Extending a warm welcome to the delegation, the Chief Secretary informed the delegates that hi-tech valley in Ludhiana has already attracted prominent industry players such as Hero Cycles, Aditya Birla Group and now, JK Paper Limited was the latest edition in its investor’s list. Hero Cycles Limited has already set up their anchor unit with a production capacity of 4 million bicycles per annum, especially e-bikes and premium bikes.Similarly, Aditya Birla Group has proposed to invest around Rs 1,000 crore in the hi-tech valley, where they have purchased 61 acres land at the cost of Rs147-crore. The group plans to enter the paint manufacturing business where the latest manufacturing technology and industry 4.0-based tools will be deployed.
She expressed hope that JK Paper Ltd would start construction of its proposed plant without any delay and commence commercial production by end of 2022 as the state government has been providing a high quality plug and play infrastructure to potential investors, which has proved instrumental in attracting investments to the otherwise landlocked state.Notably, JK Paper Ltd has chosen Punjab for its maiden entry into new business vertical of corrugated packaging manufacturing with proposed investment of Rs 150 crore and the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had on Wednesday handed over a letter allotting 17 acres of land to the company at the hi-tech valley in Ludhiana.Expressing gratitude for the utmost support and seamless facilitation provided by the Punjab Government, Singhania informed that the proposed unit will be a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that will be established using advanced machinery. The unit will use waste paper as raw materials for production of corrugated packaging.The prospects of developing an ecosystem for paper manufacturing including the skilling requirements and the possibility of using paddy straw was also discussed in the meeting.Principal Secretary Investment Promotion Hussan Lal, CEO Invest Punjab Rajat Agarwal and Managing Director Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation Neelima also attended the meeting.