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Punjab Opens Up for ‘Global Investment’

Badal, who was transiting through Dubai on Friday, stressed that his state offers some excellent investment opportunities for industrialists and businessmen, especially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Also, he added, Punjab is now ranked at the top in India in several sectors including infrastructure, business investment and agro-processing. He was delivering a keynote address at a lunch hosted by the Indian Business and Professional Council at the Le Meridien hotel.

There are also some very attractive schemes for industrialists and business entrepreneurs: For instance, he said, free land and 50 per cent of the construction cost would be provided by the government for establishing approved educational institutions in the villages and rural areas. The state would also bear 70 per cent of the institution’s running expenses and there would be no government interference as far as its management is concerned.

Similarly, said Badal, for approved local area development projects, the government would support any such initiative by meeting 50 per cent of the project cost.

He admitted that while the state at present suffers from, “some shortage of power,” the government is addressing this problem and there will soon be a power surplus in the energy sector with new thermal plants coming up in the state.

The Chief Minister, in a thinly-veiled reference to the ruling Congress party-led coalition at the centre, said, the federal government in New Delhi must ensure that some special grants and concessions that are made available to other states, “should also be made available for Punjab.”

He said, there is a “dire need” for development in the country’s villages and rural areas and said that any investor or NRIs investing in this sector, “would be given a red-carpet welcome.”

Appealing directly to his audience, he said, “What we need most is your knowledge and experience, besides your investments.” Some of the key areas for global/NRI investment include “new technologies in various fields and any help big or small is most welcome.”

Creating new facilities, especially for NRIs, he said Punjab has set up a high-powered advisory committee for NRIs and also special police stations for NRIs so that their grievances can be addressed on a priority basis.

The Indian Consul General in Dubai Venu Rajamony who also spoke on the occasion said, “the UAE has one of the largest communities of Indian abroad and even here, the Punjabis who are renowned for their entrepreneurial skills have proved themselves in different spheres.”

Earlier, the IBPC president Paras Shadadpuri said in his welcome speech, “Punjab has been in the forefront in various sectors and is the number one state in the country in information technology, agriculture yield and productivity, education and health care.” Also, he added, “This is the best time to invest in India, especially in progressive and developed states like Punjab.”