Aim to make Punjab most favoured investment destination: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said he envisions making the state as the most favoured investment destination not only in the country but also across the globe.
Signing of 376 MoUs worth Rs 1,12,000 crore (nearly USD 17 billion), having employment potential of 2.50 lakh jobs is reflective of investors' confidence in the state, Badal said.
In his keynote address during the second edition of investors summit at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here today, the Chief Minister said the credit for success of first such summit held in December, 2013 and now the present one, goes to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

He said Punjab is the best state in the country from investment point of view as it was credited with best infra structure facilities, excellent road, rail and air connectivity, flawless telecommunication network and above all ease of doing business here, as acknowledged by World Bank.
This was due to single officer mechanism in Invest Punjab, to give all the clearances/ sanctions to prospective investors from 23 odd departments within a record period of just one month, he added.
Badal welcomed the delegates from Poland, China, Hungry and South Korea and companies from USA, UK, France, Italy, Singapore, who have come all the way to participate in this summit.

He said the state government had already sincerely offered incentives to prospective entrepreneurs by way of giving them a liberal package of incentives and fiscal concessions and now it was their turn to set up ventures in the state.

He reiterated his commitment to further resolve any issue related to accelerating the tempo of industrialization in the state as his government was ever ready to offer red carpet welcome to the industry to ensure overall development of the state and prosperity of its people.
Soliciting whole hearted support and cooperation from the business honchos, Badal said, "To put Punjab on industrial map of the country in a big way I offer a 'blank cheque' to all of you in terms of attractive incentives and concessions to facilitate you for making huge investments in the state".

Sharing his concerns over swift industrialization in the state, the Chief Minister bemoaned that despite the state offering such lucrative concessions, the country's leading industrialists were still shying away to make investments here and emphasized the need to change this mindset.