Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday following discussions with Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal announced his keen interest to increase broadband connectivity in Punjab besides taking up a petro chemical project, expanding its facility in Hoshiarpur and even considering investment in agro processing in Punjab.
In a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister who was accompanied by Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal and Industrial Adviser Kamal Oswal, the Reliance group head also agreed to attend the Progressive Punjab Investment summit being held on December 9 and December 10 following a personal invitation extended by Sukhbir Badal.
During the meeting which lasted for over one and a half hour, Sukhbir while giving a brief about the State Government initiatives to Ambani and his team said his government was on the verge of making Punjab surplus in power generation following which the Reliance chief said his company would increase the scope of its operations in Hoshiarpur.
The Deputy CM also urged the Reliance group to invest in solar and bio mass power saying his Government was facilitating investment in this sector through special incentives.
He also briefed Ambani about the incentives being given on the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Central Sales Tax (CST) front whereby companies investing in the State could retain as much as 80 per cent of both taxes for a period of ten years. Ambani also lauded the Deputy CM for his out of the box thinking and described the initiative as “revolutionary”.
During his discussions with Sukhbir, the Reliance head said his company was ready to provide broadband connectivity to all schools and hospitals in the state at a nominal cost. He said this initiative had the capability to change lives. Ambani also expressed his company’s desire to train more than a million diploma engineers in home services, saying his company wanted to develop real time skills of the youth as well as create jobs in this sector.
He said Punjab could play a big role in this initiative following which the Deputy CM said the state was open to the establishment of a Vocational Training University and said Reliance could start certified courses for various vocational courses in such a University. The Reliance chief also invited Sukhbir to visit Jamnagar to see the various advances in research on the use of sunlight and biomass for creation of synthetic crude oil.