The Punjab Congress on Sunday accused the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal for making “fake” projections on investment opportunities in the State and “offering lollypops” to the industrial houses in the name of so-called investor-friendly Industrial Policy which was announced in June last “but never notified”.
“Sukhbir is not doing any service to Punjab by telling lies to industrial houses rather earning a bad name for the state,” said Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Partap Singh Bajwa while addressing a meeting of Congress workers during second phase of mass contact meeting. Bajwa said that presentation by Sukhbir to the IT companies in Banglore last week was misleading propaganda and far from ground realities in Punjab.
He said that Punjab had already missed the IT revolution. “Seven years have passed since the formation of SAD-BJP government, but no industrial policy is notified till date. Many states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh have gained at the onset of IT revolution. None of big IT industry preferred Punjab,” said Bajwa while asking Sukhbir Badal to name one.
Taking strong objection to Sukhbir’s assurance to the industrialists during Bangalore summit that they can charge VAT from public and keep it with themselves to increase their profits, Bajwa said that it was big fraud with the people who are made to pay high taxes. “VAT’s base rate in Punjab at five per cent is highest in the country against four per cent in all other states. The power rates are the second highest in the country and excise duty clubbed with advance tax on raw material is highest among all states,” said Bajwa.
Adding, Bajwa said that Sukhbir after meeting with TATA Group head Cyrus Mistry made unilateral announcement that the Group would invest in variety of big projects in Punjab. “TATA Group has only come to say final ‘ta ta’ to Punjab…as the press statement by the state PR department clearly stated that the Group itself has not made any such announcement. Neither any assurance was given to Sukhbir Badal,” he added.
Maintaining that the proposed Global Investment Summit would be yet another futile exercise in the absence of investor friendly atmosphere and policies, Bajwa said that SAD-BJP Government had held two NRI Sammelans in 2007 and 2013 on the pretext that NRIs have agreed to make heavy investment in Punjab in tourism and hospitality sector. “Not even a single NRI dared to invest in Punjab due to problems like corruption, poor law and order and unworthy road infrastructure and road rage and traffic nuisance,” he said.