In a period of less than one year, Punjab Government has sealed investments worth Rs9,500 crore, claimed State Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Thursday.Sukhbir, delivering his keynote address during national executive committee meeting of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), described Punjab as the most preferred investment destination.
Revealing that negotiations for big investments with global leaders in Punjab were in advanced stage of completion, Sukhbir announced that Punjab would host next Progressive Punjab Investment Summit on October 28 and 29 at SAS Nagar.
Also calling on the FICCI to become State’s active partner in industrial development, Sukhbir invited the Federation to build world class Convention-cum-Trade Center in SAS Nagar (Mohali) for which adequate chunk of land will be provided by the Punjab Government. He also extended invitation to FICCI to host its next national executive committee meeting at Amritsar.
Sukhbir also announced that Punjab would be the first State in the country by the end of this year to have the entire State, its departments and villages online. “With the effective implementation of e-governance, e-district and e-sarkar projects, the State is on the brink of providing all citizen services through online mechanism…My vision of making Punjab online rather than inline is on the edge of completion so that people could avail more than 200 citizen centric services under one roof,” he said.
He said that under this project, more than 2,500 sewa kendras were being setup in the state, which would become operational by July this year. “In short span of time, Punjab has secured new scales in industrial investment sector as more than 180 companies have approached under ‘Invest Punjab’ with an investment of Rs10,000 crore,” he said.
He appealed the members of FICCI that Punjab has fulfilled all the required amenities in the State including air connectivity, world class road network, 24X7 uninterrupted power, besides constitution of Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP) to provide all clearances within 30 days.
Briefing about the current status of power scenario in the State, Sukhbir said that Punjab has become power surplus and now the State Government has constituted a committee to sell the power.