To give a major push to the industrial development of the State, especially in the rural areas, while generating employment for the youth, Punjab Government is all set to set up 20 dedicated Rural Industrial Hubs across the State soon.
The information was shared by the Chief Minister while chairing a meeting with the industrialists to solicit their views on draft Industrial Policy. “It will serve twin motives as it will give impetus to industrial development on one hand and open new vistas of employment for rural youth on the other,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that these hubs will be equipped with state of the art infrastructure to facilitate the industrialists in setting up their units.
Mann also assured fulsome support and cooperation to the industrialists opting for setting up their units in these hubs, while adding that the State Government is fully committed to accelerate industrialist development in Punjab.
Also mooting the idea of ‘One District, One Product’ to ensure production of specialized goods in various districts, Mann said that this would help in enhancing the productivity of the industrial goods and enabling the entrepreneurs to give the best quality of products from a single district.
“A number of districts across the State have specialization in several products,” he said, adding that potential of this can be tapped further by focusing on ‘One District, One Product’.
Dwelling on another agenda, the Chief Minister said that the State Government is making strenuous efforts to further strengthen the single window system for facilitating the investors. “The pragmatic policies of the state government coupled with industrial peace and state of the art infrastructure provides a conducive atmosphere for the industrial development in the state,” he said.
Mann pointed out that earlier, single window service was merely a sham, devoid of any meaningful purpose, which not only demoralized the potential investors but also hampered the industrial development of the state.
However, the Chief Minister said that his government has ensured that the single window system works as a real facilitator to the entrepreneurs interested in investing in the state. “This will further be streamlined so that industrialists do not face any sort of problem,” he said.
Mann also assured the industrialists that the pending issues pertaining to the Change in Land Use (CLU) will also be resolved soon adding that this mechanism will also be simplified further in coming days.
The Chief Minister also said that due to industrial peace in the state, Punjab is the most preferred investment destination across the globe. He said that peace and tranquility will be maintained by all means and no one will be allowed to disturb it at any cost.
Mann unequivocally said that the protest is democratic right of everyone but no one will be allowed to derail the economic progress of the state on pretext of it.
The Chief Minister also solicited feedback on the draft Industrial and Business Development Policy-2022.
Highlighting the salient features of the draft Policy, he said that status of thrust sector has been given to the Auto and Auto Components and Electrical Vehicles, Sports Goods including Fitness Equipment, Hand tools, Agricultural Machinery and Equipment, Capital Goods including Machine Tools and Paper Based Packaging Units, Activities under Circular Economy and One District One Product in respective districts.