Projecting itself to be “an ideal investment destination”, Punjab Government on Sunday wooed the investors during CII’s Invest North 2014, being held in New Delhi.
The officials representing Punjab presented the state to be an easiest place to do business, with robust infrastructure, abundant availability of skilled manpower, responsive and accountable government that makes its an ideal investment destination.“Good quality of life in term of physical infrastructure, education, peaceful and stable political regime been one of the key reason which attracts investors in Punjab,” highlighted the state, Principal Secretary for Investment Promotion Karan Avatar Singh while addressing at the session on ‘Advantage Punjab’.
He said that the State Government has initiated the Progressive Punjab Campaign that has led to fructification of eight mega investment projects in the state with investments from Reliance, Airtel, ITC, Infosys, Cargill, among others.There were over 15 B2G meetings with investment potential of Rs4,000 crore in sectors like IT, housing, auto, infrastructure, renewable energy, food processing, life sciences, and others were discussed.
Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion’s chief executive officer Anirudh Tewari shared that ludhiana, the commercial hub of Punjab, has been ranked as the best place for doing business in the country as per World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Reports 2009 and 2013 which include parameters like starting a business, getting approvals and conducive environment for labour. Further, RBI has ranked Punjab as third most attractive destination for doing business in 2012-13, he added.
Citing the reasons for attracting investments in the state, he shared factors like easiest place to do business, robust infrastructure, abundant availability of skilled manpower, responsive and accountable government that makes Punjab an ideal investment destination. He also shared information about the upcoming projects like IT City in Mohali, Medicity in New Chandigarh, Mohali Biotech Park, etc.
Highlighting landmark reforms, Tewari said that PBIP is the “one-stop destination for all clearances” related to doing business with adequate powers to grant clearances and a dedicated relationship manager. Out of 87 applications received since inception, 72 have been granted provision site suitability clearance.