Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday welcomed the Aditya Birla Group for making huge investment of around Rs 1,000 crore in its recent foray into paint and another Rs 500 crore in setting up a cement unit at Rajpura.
The Chief Minister, speaking on the occasion after handing over a land allotment letter for 61 acres land at a cost of Rs 147 crore in the recently-developed Hi-Tech Valley Ludhiana, said that the investment would further act as a catalyst to boost industrial activity in the region.
He also mentioned that Punjab offers a congenial climate to the prospective entrepreneurs and industrialists due to peaceful labour coupled with robust infrastructure in terms of excellent road, rail and air connectivity.
He also said that Punjab has been ranked second in the ease of logistics in the country and would soon be connected to both the eastern and western freight corridors.
Pointing out further, the Chief Minister said that Punjab due to its pro-investor industrial policy and lucrative incentives has now emerged as the most preferred investment destination in the country as ‘Invest Punjab’ being one stop shop has seamlessly facilitated in garnering massive investments worth Rs 91,000 crore in over 2,900 project proposals received during last four years.
Out of these massive investments, nearly 50 percent have already started commercial production and the State has been able to attract such meaningful investments even during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, who joined the meeting virtually from Mumbai, lauded the speed at which the Punjab Government moved to attract this investment to the State and also appreciated the facilitation provided by the state at every step.
Birla apprised the Chief Minister that the upcoming paint manufacturing unit is likely to generate a direct employment of over 600 persons and around 1500 indirect job potential through its operations.