Assuring the Captains of the industry of creating conduciveecosystem for investment in the state, the Punjab Chief Minister CharanjitSingh Channi on Tuesday reiterated his government’s firm commitment to act atrue facilitator showing zero tolerance for political or bureaucraticcorruption, negative attitude, delays and inertia.
Delivering his keynote address on the Plenary Session of 4thProgressive Punjab Investors Summit 2021 here at Indian School of Business, theChief Minister said that Punjab would live up to their expectations as Punjabis the best place to do business in India.
Expressing his gratitude to all the visionaries who joinedvirtually on the first day of two-days Progressive Punjab Investors Summit-2021on October 26 & 27 with theme of ‘Progressive Punjab-A story ofPartnership, Delivery & Growth: Investors Reassured’, the Chief Ministersaid their valuable suggestions and input would help the state government tofurther fine tune the existing industrial policy by incorporating somerequisite amendments to make it far more investor friendly.
The Chief Minister further said that he comes from a humblebackground and had gone through the grill of day-to-day challenges faced by acommon man and has first-hand knowledge of their problems. Channi said, “I havealso seen that aspiring young generation of Punjab which wants to do somethingbig and I am committed to fulfill their dreams and unable to do this withoutyou....without your support.” He termed the industrialist as wealth creators inthe society and a source of opportunities to cherish the aspirations of state’syouth.
Exhorting the tycoons of industry, Channi said, “You havethe capital, you have the risk taking capacity and you have business ideas. Ihave the will, I have the intent and I have the commitment. I give mycommitment to you all today that our government will work with you at everystep to see that nothing from the government hinders your speed or createhurdles in your business plans. Come let’s team up to deliver the truepotential of your organization and the state. Let’s work together towardsmutual growth and progress.” Channi aspired to further improve state’s rankingfrom top 10 to becoming top 5 states in the country in terms of attractingForeign Direct Investments (FDIs). He said the state has developed a land bankof 6000 acres with Plug & Play facilities and created an efficient skilldevelopment ecosystem with active participation of industry. Punjab SkillDevelopment Mission has also been revamped to cater to futuristic skills forIndustry.
Pointing out further, the Chief Minister briefly enumeratedthe immense contribution of Country’s top most companies including;International Tractors Limited with Japanese collaboration Yanmar India atHoshiarpur, India’s largest petroleum refinery in private sector- HMEL atBathinda, ITC’s biggest food processing unit of North India at Kapurthala,Aarti Steel- a part of global value chain of EV giant Tesla at Ludhiana, SunPharmaceutical facilities at Mohali in Tonsa, Trident Unit at Barnala and HeroCycles in the industrial development of state. Channi said that all this would nothave been possible without the great Punjabi spirit and congenial atmosphere inthe state.
In his address, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal highlylauded the immense contribution of stalwarts of industry in scripting the newchapter of industrialization in the state as Punjab has already reached a pointof saturation in agriculture and now to boost industry is the need of the hour.He said that the Punjabis are known for their resilience and valour throughoutthe world that’s why they ushered in green revolution thus making the countryself-reliant in food production besides playing a vanguard role in protectingits national security.
Earlier, in his welcome address the Industries &Commerce Minister Gurkirat Singh Kotli said this Progressive Punjab InvestorsSummit would go a long way to boost the confidence of prospectiveindustrialists and investors to further propel Punjab as the most preferreddestination not only within the country but across the globe. He assured theindustrialists of fulsome support and cooperation to accord all necessaryclearances/approvals for setting up their units in a fast track mode.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewarisaid that Punjab believes in collaborative partnerships to promote inclusivegrowth and balanced regional development of the state. With the entrepreneurialspirit of industry and supportive policies of the government, the stategovernment wants to make Punjab a global manufacturing hub and is committed toprovide all support that industry needs for its growth.
On the occasion, Channi planted a mango sapling in thecampus of ISB to mark Investors Summit 2021.
While proposing the vote of thanks, Principal SecretaryIndustries & Commerce Tejveer Singh said that Punjab government’s strongcommitment to further improve the business environment in state and to ensurestability and continuity in policies would certainly take the industrial growthto new heights besides state’s focus on industry, business and employment.
Sharing his vision about initiatives of Invest Punjab togive impetus to industrialization, Chairman Trident Group Rajinder Gupta whopresent on the occasion, said being a Punjabi to the core his industry with theliberal policies of Punjab government has progressed by leaps and bounds andannounced an expansion of Rs.2000 crore on this historic occasion.
Meanwhile, Chairman & MD, HUL Sanjiv Mehta announced toinvest Rs. 1200 crore and Chancellor Amity University Dr. Atul Chauhanannounced to invest Rs. 300 crore in next two years in higher education sector.Apart from this, Chairman Mahindra Group Anand G Mahindra also announced to setup its third Tractor factory in the state shortly besides setting up a hotelproject near Pathankot.
Several other industrialists including Vice Chairman and MDJK Paper Ltd. Harsh Pati Singhania, Founder & MD Sun Pharmaceutical IndustriesLtd. Dilip Shanghvi, MD & CEO Invest India Deepak Bagla, MD Yanmar IndiaKazunori Ajiki, Chairman-Europe Hinduja Group Prakash P Hinduja, AdditionalSecretary DPIIT Ms. Sumita Dawra, Chairman & MD ITC Sanjiv Puri, JapaneseAmbassador to India Satoshi Suzuki, Chairman Aditya Birla Group Kumar MangalamBirla and Executive Chairman Arcelor Mittal Lakshmi N. Mittal shared theirexperiences and inputs about their partnerships in various industrial venturesacross the state.
The function was also attended by Principal Secretary toChief Minister Hussan Lal and CEO Invest Punjab Rajat Aggarwal.