PunjabChief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday welcomed the Aditya BirlaGroup for making huge investment of around Rs.1000 crores in its recent forayinto paint and another Rs. 500 crores in setting up a cement unit at Rajpura.
Speakingon the occasion after handing over land allotment letter for 61 acres land at acost of Rs.147 crore in the recently developed Hi-Tech Valley Ludhiana, theChief Minister said this investment would further act as a catalyst to boostindustrial activity in the region. He also mentioned that Punjab offers a congenialclimate to the prospective entrepreneurs and industrialists due to peacefullabour coupled with robust infrastructure in terms of excellent road, rail andair connectivity.
Healso said that Punjab has been ranked 2nd in the ease of logistics in the countryand would be soon connected to both the eastern & western freightcorridors.
Pointingout further, the Chief Minister said that Punjab due to its pro-investorindustrial policy and lucrative incentives has now emerged as the mostpreferred investment destination in the country as ‘Invest Punjab’ being onestop shop has seamlessly facilitated in garnering massive investments worthRs.91,000 crores in over 2900 project proposals received during last fouryears.
Outof these massive investments, nearly 50% have already started commercialproduction and the state has been able to attract such meaningful investmentseven during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic. He also referred to massiveemployment generation plan through which nearly 17.63 lakh youth have beenfacilitated gainful employment in government, private and self-employmentventures.
TheChief Minister further termed these huge investments as a reflection of thevarious transformative initiatives including series of policy, process andbusiness reforms that have been undertaken by the Punjab Government in therecent past.
Expressinggratitude to the Chief Minister, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar MangalamBirla, who joined the meeting virtually from Mumbai affirmed faith in Punjab’sindustrial eco system, forward looking industrial policies and a non-intrusivegovernment interface. He lauded the speed at which Punjab government moved toattract this investment to the state and also appreciated the facilitationprovided by the state at every step.
Birlafurther apprised the Chief Minister that the upcoming paint manufacturing unitis likely to generate a direct employment of over 600 persons and around 1500indirect job potential through its operations. He said that this upcoming plantwould have best in class safety and environment protection systems having zeroliquid discharge. Looking forward for continued support to set up more suchventures in near future, he said Punjab is now on their priority list.
Meanwhile,his son Aryaman Birla also marked his presence through video conferencing whilethe delegation headed by Himanshu Kapania, Non-executive Director & ViceChairman, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd and Director Telecom, receivedthe allotment letter from the Chief Minister in person.
Notably,this large manufacturing unit would also give a fillip to the value-chain ofallied sectors such as Packaging Industry, Tin and Plastic Can manufacturing,Mobility etc. in the region. Aditya Birla’s upcoming plant would deploy thelatest manufacturing technology.
Theplant would be controlled through the advanced technology of DCS/PLC.Automation would be deployed to manage the raw material, production materialand finished goods' warehouses within the plant. The plant would also deployIndustry 4.0 based tools and Internet of Things (IoT) in its manufacturingoperations.
Takingpart in the deliberations, CEO Invest Punjab Rajat Aggarwal said that theState's investment promotion agency 'INVEST PUNJAB' has been recently rated asthe 'Top Performer Agency' by the Government of India. The Hi-Tech Valley ofLudhiana has proved to be a magnet for attracting new investments in the area.
Thehigh quality 'Plug and Play' infrastructure developed in record time hasprovided an option to the industries to start their operations quickly in theindustrial capital of the state. Hero Cycles Limited has already set up theiranchor unit in the Valley with a production capacity of 4 million bicycles perannum especially e-bikes and premium bikes in the unit. Many new investors haveshown keen interest to invest in this well-developed industrial park. TheAditya Birla Group is also looking forward to start construction for itsproposed plant at the earliest, added Aggarwal.
Notably,the global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, a Fortune 500 company, has chosenPunjab as an investment destination in North India for its upcoming paintsbusiness venture through its flagship company Grasim Industries Ltd.
Theevent was attended by senior officers including Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan,Principal Secretary Investment Promotion Alok Shekhar, Managing Director PunjabSmall Industries & Export Corporation Neelima among others.