In just four years, over Rs. 70,000 crore worth of investment has been added, with more than 10 global investors choosing to place their confidence in Punjab. The Covid crisis failed to dampen investor confidence, and Rs 5274 crore of investment came in between April 1 to December 21, 2020, including two marquee investors –M/s Air Liquide (HQ France; Industrial Gases; Rajpura), M/s Centrient Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (HQ USA, SBS Nagar).
More than 10 global investors have chosen to put their trust and money in Punjab’s growth story since 2017, even as domestic industries and business houses have continued to expand their frontiers to further power the state’s quest to become one of India’s most attractive destinations of investment and growth.
According to CEO Invest Punjab, Rajat Aggarwal, led by the strategic interventions of the investment promotion agency that got a facelift under Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s visionary roadmap for growth soon after his government took over, the state’s investment story has witnessed a dramatic transformation. A story that has now been validated by Invest Punjab’s ranking as one of the `Top Performers’ among 20 State Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) with an overall score of 100%.
Aggarwal said this remarkable feat has been underscored by the recently concluded State IPA ratings report, released by Invest India, under the directive of Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), in collaboration with the World Bank Group. The assessment was meant to measure the preparedness of the Indian State IPAs to attract and facilitate investment projects and provide aftercare to investors, Invest Punjab said in a statement. Incidentally, apart from `Top Performers’, there were four other ratings categories - `Aspiring Leaders’, `Promising Developers’ and `Emerging Potentials’ – across which the states were assessed.
He said Invest Punjab, under Captain Amarinder Singh’s leadership as the minister-in-charge of the Department of Investment Promotion, has been un unmatched success story for the state is manifest in its excellent investment record of the last around 4 years. Investments have poured in from countries as diverse as USA, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, France, Germany, UK, UAE, New Zealand, Spain, while many existing Punjab based industries decided to expand their operations during this time.
As the ratings report put it: “We congratulate Invest Punjab for taking remarkable measures that have resulted in it becoming one of the leading investment promotion agencies in India. We commend the far-sightedness of the State IPA and its leadership for taking the steps to prove its relevance in this competitive landscape. Invest Punjab has scored 100% in each of the eight pillars.”
Invest Punjab, over the past few years, has undertaken many institutional, systemic and technological reforms to ensure ease of business throughout the investment lifecycle of the investor. The agency’s aggressive strategic interventions have enabled it to earn 100% in all the eight pillars of the State IPA rankings report released by Invest India, Aggarwal said.
As per the report, the Top performers are the IPAs that are most prepared for attracting and retaining investors and perform well across many or all the eight Pillars – Mandate and Organization, Strategy and Marketing, Targeting Investors, Winning Investment Projects, Facilitating Investments, Aftercare, Systems and Infrastructure, Website. They demonstrate multiple aspects of internationally recognised good practices – an ethos that the Captain Amarinder led government has actively promoted through its focus on ethics, transparency, and promoting ease of doing business.
The State IPA rankings report praised Invest Punjab’s vision for growth by mentioning that, “It is noteworthy that Invest Punjab not only has a well-defined strategy in place but also a well-rounded approach to identify Priority Sectors, Priority Markets' and Evolving sector opportunities”.
Trust lies at the core of the state’s investment strategy, with the report lauding Invest Punjab’s customer-centric approach to investors. To quote the report - “Invest Punjab has prepared a customized presentation on 'Cost to Investors' for some of its focus sectors such as Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture & Food Processing sectors. Information on average labour cost, cost of industrial land, taxes and available incentives is clearly mentioned and made available to investors, as and when required”.
Another notable achievement of Investment Punjab that has drawn praise from Invest India is its initiatives to connect with NRIs/NRPs through Indian Embassies as well as Punjab NRI Sabha and other such organizations. Engaging communication in the form of newsletters, latest policy and EODB initiatives, investible projects and latest announcements from the state government have promoted this connect, with the 'NRI Connect' feature on the Invest Punjab web portal offering services such as facilitating investment projects of Punjabi diaspora, procedural guidance, advice on taxation, etc.
Aggarwal said the focus on creating a business-friendly environment in the state, through enhancement of business processes for facilitating investor management and lead generation, will continue to be strengthened going forward.
Among the key projects that have start operations in the past four years, the spokesperson listed M/s Think Gas (HQ Singapore) INR 2000 Cr, M/s Pepsico Ltd. (HQ USA) INR 100 cr., M/s Varun Beverages Ltd. INR 800 crore, M/s IOL Chemicals Ltd. INR 235 crores, M/s Godrej Tyson Foods (HQ USA), M/s Sharaf Group (HQ UAE), M/s Air Liquide (HQ France), M/s Graepels Perforations Pvt. Ltd. (HQ Germany), M/s Sunjin India Feeds Pvt. Ltd. (HQ South Korea), M/s Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HQ UK), M/s International Tractors Ltd., M/s HPL Additives Ltd., M/s Isckon Balaji Foods Pvt. Ltd. and many others.
Also, many others like M/s CN IFFCO (joint venture with Spanish firm Congelados de Navarra) INR 550+ Crore, M/s Happy Forgings Ltd. (INR 525 crore), M/s HMEL Refinery Ltd. (INR 21991 crore) are in the construction phase of their projects, he said.