Punjab Government has set up an Investment Promotion Centre to deal with all applications received from the investors at one place. For the purpose, a nodal officer would also be appointed to take the time-bound decisions on the applications received.
Announcing this, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday told the investors that the State Government had changed systems in order to make the investment climate ideal for entrepreneurs in Punjab. Sukhbir, while addressing the likely investors at an investors’ meet during his whirlwind Mumbai tour, maintained that Punjab government is wooing the investors and approaching them “only after setting everything right”.
“I do not believe in making claims. I have only come to you after I am sure that the state is on the threshold of becoming a power-surplus state. We have more than 20,000 acres of ready land available for allocation to entrepreneurs. We have created a single window system to hand hold investors coming into the State. It is because of these steps that I feel completely confident approaching you now and welcoming you to invest in the state”, he said.
Sukhbir added that Punjab government believed them, and it had decided that “all investors could submit self-certified applications while applying for various kinds of clearances. Regarding concessions, the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Central Sales Tax (CST) retentions for new investors is phenomenal”. Assuring investors that Punjab would be power surplus by December, he said that the government had not only assured 24-hour power to the IT industry but would also offer to pay for the cost of any disruption.
larsen and Toubro Director SN Roy said that his company had constructed the second largest mall in Chandigarh by creating two lakh feet of commercial space. “l&T are also coming up with a thermal plant in Rajpura besides various infrastructure projects. It’s very easy to approach both Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy who are always keen to solve our problems,” he added. CII chairman and Tata Chemical managing director R Mukundan said that industry was upbeat about the innovative steps being taken by Punjab government to invite investment in the State.