During pre-Budget consultation with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi, Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Friday sought the Centre’s help in setting up large-scale units in the State.
In the meeting, he said there has been no investment in large public sector undertaking except Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala long ago.Dhindsa also requested Government of India to give incentives to the cultivation of alternate crops like maize and Basmati to ensure diversification in agriculture. He requested the Government to fix MSP for basmati as has been done for maize crop and to put in place efficient marketing mechanism for procurement of these crops through a designated agency.
The Punjab Finance Minister said that to improve the productivity of pulses and soya bean in the State, a Regional Centre of ICAR for research in these crops should be established in the State and assured marking for alternate crops should be created. He requested Government of India to declare allied agricultural activities like dairy, poultry, piggery, goatry and fishery etc. at par with agriculture for benefits like exemption of Income Tax, interest rate etc.
As cancer has become a major public health concern in Punjab, requiring establishment of state of art oncology centers and upgradation of existing departments in medical colleges, Dhindsa requested the Government to provide a grant of Rs100 crore to check cancer penetration in Punjab. He also requested the Centre to immediately release CST compensation of Rs1,266.96 crore for the year 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.