Industry pledges full support to Punjab govt

Leading industrialists on Friday pledged full support to the Punjab government to make it a frontrunner on the country's industrial map.

They also urged Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to put growth in textile and garments, agro and food processing, steel and other sectors on fasttrack in view of immense potential in these verticals.

A session on the concluding day of Progressive Punjab Investors Summit-2019 underlined the state's strong industrial base coupled with peaceful and skilled workforce.

The participants exhorted the chief minister to accelerate the pace of development in these key sectors with his government's support.

The session was moderated by Vardhman Special Steel MD Sachit Jain, and the panelists were Vice Chairman of International Tractor A S Mittal, Chairman Trident Group Rajinder Gupta, Nahar Group MD Kamal Oswal, Chairman Bunge India Samir Jain and Air Asia CEO Sunil Bhaskaran.

The majority of panellists extended full support and cooperation to the state government in its endeavour to make Punjab a frontrunner on the country's industrial map.

Initiating the discussion, Sachit Jain said Punjab had a strong industrial eco-system, which could play a vanguard role in promoting industry, especially in the manufacturing sector.

He noted that the state had wide scope for growth of the IT and ITeS, especially in the light of the new industrial policy.

Taking part in the deliberations, Trident's Rajinder Gupta said he had made massive investments in his textile units in Barnala district, besides investing nearly Rs 10 crore on the education of children and women welfare in the rural sector as part of his corporate social responsibility.

Mittal shared his experience with the Japanese company Yanmar, which has led to marked quality improvement in the manufacturing facility at Hoshiarpur.

He also emphasized the need to encourage Japan-based suppliers and vendors to invest in the local MSMEs dealing with auto parts, in order to enhance quality of their products in line with international standards.

Oswal said Nahar Group was setting up a logistics park over an area of 45 acres at a cost of Rs 300 crore in Ludhiana, besides another industrial park over an area of 100 acres at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore to house green industry - IT & ITeS, with facilities of housing, malls and retail.

In another session, industry called for more international flights from the state to harness its massive potential to emerge as a Medical Tourism hub.

The only thing the Punjab government needs to do is to press upon the Union fovernment to bring more direct international flights in the state from CIS nations, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and to cater to NRI populations in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand in order to attract patients, the delegates said.

UAE commercial Attache to India (Minister Plenipotentiary), Ahmad Sultan Al Falahi said the growing Indo-UAE economic and commercial relations contribute valuable stability and strength to bilateral relationship between the two countries.