Punjab’s schools, colleges, and health institutions will soon be connected with the world wide web. For, the Reliance Industries limited (RIl) chairman-cum-MD Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday promised a slew of investment initiatives for the development of Punjab across a wide spectrum of sectors, including free WiFi to government educational and health institutions.
Ambani, during a meeting with a Punjab government delegation, led by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, also offered to provide employment for youth, and training of sportspersons for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics.
The delegation held a series of meetings with top industry leaders, including Ambani, Hinduja Group director Shom Ashok Hinduja, and larsen & Tourbo (l&T) director and executive vice president (Power and Heavy Engineering and Defence) Shailendra N Roy.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh could not attend these meetings, scheduled for late afternoon, as he was indisposed because of the relapse of his foot injury, said his Media Advisor Raveen Thukral.
Capt Amarinder had a foot injury during the assembly election campaign which was troubling him again and the doctor had advised him to rest his foot during the afternoon, said Thukral.
Ambani, during his meeting with the state delegation, emphasized the need for steps to boost the earnings of farmers, besides providing jobs for youth. Acting on a request from the state government, Ambani agreed to provide free WiFi connectivity in all government schools, colleges and health institutions.
The two sides also agreed on initiating biomass energy development in the state on a big scale, apart from promotion of sports and its infrastructure. The RIl has offered to adopt some players from Punjab to train and groom them for the Tokyo Olympics.
RIl will also support the state government in its efforts to revive the farm to fork project in order to boost agricultural production in the state.
Meanwhile, l&T’s Roy promised the state government’s full support and cooperation to the company for expanding its ongoing projects, as well as future projects in Punjab.
Hinduja, during his meeting with the delegation, showed interest in providing skill development to youth and promotion of renewable energy development in the state.
Manpreet urged the Hindujas to set up a manufacturing or assembly unit for their trucks in Punjab. The company said that it was looking to diversify into manufacturing of defence vehicles and promised to explore the possibility of setting up a facility at Punjab for the same.
The Finance Minister urged the company to work on improving fuel efficiencies of their tractors and other vehicles as a step towards boosting efficiencies and incomes of the farmers.
A roundtable discussion in the evening also saw several key business leaders discuss investment possibilities in Punjab. The discussion was attended by industry and business stalwarts, including HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri, Bombay Dyeing MD Ness Wadia, Janseen India (J&J) MD Sanjiv Navangul, MSD Pharmaceuticals Private limited MD Vivek K Kamath, Videocon director Anirudh Dhoot, Mumbai Angels CEO Chandni Jafri, Kansai Nerolac Paints MD HM Bharuka, and Maya Digital Studios co-founders Ketan Mehta and Deepa Sahi, along with Jain Irrigations’ Anil Jain and Pranav Adani of the Adani Group.