In a significant development, corporate heads have promised to invest in Punjab, marking a departure from the past few years, when exorbitant land costs have deterred industry from the state.
Three top corporate house heads promised Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday that they would make investments in the state. Sukhbir met with them in Mumbai where he is on a four-day tour to attract industry heads for the forthcoming Punjab Investment Summit on December 9-10 in Mohali.
The Mahindra & Mahindra group Chairman Anand Mahindra said his group plans to establish a world class Mahindra University in New Chandigarh besides providing end to end solutions in marketing and agro processing of fruits and vegetables in Punjab.
Mahindra made the announcement on Wednesday after Badal briefed him about the knowledge city coming up at Mullanpur besides other initiatives being taken by the government, including the creation of a single window for investors and Value Added Tax (VAT) and Central Sales Tax (CST) retentions schemes.
Mahindra said, "As far as we are concerned, it will be like returning home by establishing the Mahindra University in Punjab." Mahindra said the university would be an umbrella institution for five engineering colleges being established by the Mahindra Group in different parts of the country in technical collaboration with Ecole Centrale Paris of France. He clarified that the family would invest its personal money for the establishment of the university which would have liberal arts disciplines besides engineering studies.
Speaking about the other initiatives the Mahindra Group was ready to foray into in Punjab, Mahindra said the company was interested in processing of fruits and sweet potatoes. Badal urged the company to go in for end to end marketing and agro processing of fruits and vegetables which was agreed to by Mahindra, who appreciated the new contract farming policy formed by the Punjab government. Badal also urged Mahindra to take up marketing of kinnows from Punjab in the same manner in which it was marketing Indian grapes worldwide.
In a late evening meeting between Godrej group Chairman Adi Godrej and Badal, the former accepted an invitation to attend the Mohali summit besides evincing interest in housing and biomass power. Adi Godrej deputed a team on the spot to visit Punjab to work out the modalities even as Badal appointed his special secretary Manvesh Singh Sidhu to work as a point man on behalf of the state.
In another meeting with Hinduja group Executive Chairman Ashok P Hinduja, the group chairman offered to establish a university in Punjab. He has also agreed to set up solar power plants, wheelhouses and cold storages to benefit farmers to sell their produce and reduce wastage.
Hinduja also agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Punjab government during the summit for the establishment of a Driver's Training Institute in Punjab. The group also announced it would establish its zonal office in Mohali.
During an interaction with Vodafone officials, Badal assured that all mobile towers would be provided with a 24 hour power connection and that the government would regularise all towers as a onetime measure. Followed by this proposal, Vodafone assured to provide broadband connectivity in rural areas.
Encouraged by the rise in the number of tourists visiting Punjab; Adlabs Chairman Manmohan Shetty evinced interest to set up a theme-based tourist entertainment hub near Ludhiana along the river Satluj. Badal said the government would assist in working out the modalities for the project.
