'Progressive Punjab' investment meet ends with Rs.65,000 crore promised

The Punjab government Tuesday claimed that 117 companies had made commitments of over Rs.65,000 crore worth of investments in the state as the two-day "Progressive Punjab" investors' summit concluded here.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced that the state government would do everything "to ensure timely execution of Memorandum of Commitments (MoCs)" to prove that Punjab indeed is a favoured destination for industrial investment.

"We want to change Punjab's image from just being a food grains state to an industrialised state. We are open for new ideas and innovations to boost up the industrial growth in Punjab," he said.

The summit, which started Monday, saw Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar, Hero MotoCorp's Sunil Kant Munjal, Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal, G.V.K. Reddy from GVK Group, DLF vice chairman Rajiv Singh and other leading industrialists in attendance.

Some of the investment commitments include realty giant DLF (Rs.9,500 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs.4,000 crore), Reliance 4G (Rs.2,500 crore) and others.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was behind the organization of the summit, said that the state government wanted to make Punjab the No. 1 state in the country in industrial development.

"Within four to six months, physical work would be started on these MoCs since the government has appointed teams to assist business houses and provide them land according to their needs," Badal told media after the conclusion of the summit here, 10 km from Chandigarh.

He said that the Punjab government would establish three world-class convention centres at Mohali, Ludhiana and Amritsar.

The next summit would be held in industrial hub Ludhiana Dec 9-10 next year, he added.