Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday appealed to the NRIs to invest in the State and pitched the idea of ‘Make in Punjab’ on the concluding day of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
Badal, speaking on ‘Investment Opportunities in States’ during the Chief Ministers’ session, said that Punjab has lot of opportunities for NRIs and more to offer than any other State. “I appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’. But, I would like to pitch for ‘Make in Punjab’ because we have given more sacrifices in country’s freedom movement. Out of all who were hanged by British, 80 per cent were Punjabis,” he said.
To attract NRIs to invest in Punjab, Badal listed several pro-NRI initiatives taken by the SAD-BJP Government. “We have created special NRI courts to deal with their cases. We have made laws to protect properties of NRIs given on rent in Punjab, have set up police stations to deal with NRI cases,” he said. “According to a recent report by the Reserve Bank of India, Punjab is the third most attractive investment destination, while ludhiana was ranked first in terms of doing business criteria by World Bank,” Badal further added.