Amarinder woos corporates in Mumbai for Punjab investments

Less than a month after taking over as Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh on Monday began his three-day visit to Mumbai and met top industrialists and corporate honchos and offered sops to woo prospective investors.

Under his 'Invest Punjab' initiative, Amarinder Singh met Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, Goldman Sachs India Chairman Sonjoy Chatterjee and Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej.

Amarinder Singh also met KPMG India Chairman and CEO Arun K. Kumar.

Leading a delegation comprising ministers and officers, the Chief Minister promised to streamline systems and processes in Punjab to make it more investor- and industry- friendly.

He reiterated his commitment to provide power to industry at Rs 5 per unit.

Chandrasekaran agreed to visit Punjab to explore the possibility of setting up a major project.

Kochhar agreed to consider the possibility of shifting the ICICI Bank's backend operations to SAS Nagar adjoining Chandigarh in the next stage of their expansion, a state government spokesman said.

The Chief Minister is expected to meet Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his brother Anil Ambani on Tuesday, apart from other leading industrialists and corporates.

The Congress government led by Amarinder Singh assumed office on March 16.

The new government faces serious challenges like huge debt of the state, unemployment, flight of industry and low investments.

--IANS

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