Terror attack may hit investment flow into Punjab: Assocham

Industry body Assocham today said the terror attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district may hit investment flow into the state and hoped the SAD-BJP led government will take "stringent" steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
The industry body also strongly condemned the "cowardly act" of terrorism at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur district yesterday in which three terrorists, attacked passengers in a moving bus and stormed a police station, killing seven persons, including an SP rank police officer, while all the terrorists were gunned down after a day-long operation.
"The current security environment might make it difficult for the state to attract large scale private investments, especially in the industrial sector, as such there is an alternative to focus on agriculture and services sectors that have significant potential to generate jobs quickly," D S Rawat, Secretary General, Assocham said in a statement.

"The terrorist attack in Punjab might further hit the investment flow into the state as such commitments from the government to maintain law and order conditions hold key," Rawat said.
The statement came even as Punjab government is aggressively pushing for attracting investments in the state by presenting itself as most attractive investment destination with industry friendly industrial policy.
Notably, Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is currently on an investment promotion trip to Poland and Hungary with focus on agro processing and allied agricultural practices.
The state government has planned to hold progressive investment summit in October this year.

Significantly, Assocham in its latest study has said that Punjab has registered a drop of over 63 per cent in attracting new investments during 2014-15 as the state failed to capitalise on its core benefits.