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The Punjab government is to soon announce its long-awaited new industrial policy. This would have financial incentives for investors and simplify procedures as well, Sukhbir Singh Badal, deputy chief minister of the state, said here on Thursday.
Regarded as the political heir of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he was addressing the Chandigarh edition of Samriddhi, an event organised by Business Standard's Hindi edition to bring together thought leaders at state capitals.
Badal, whose father is the CM, said his team had made a detailed study of the incentives offered by other states and come up with a better set. Adding, "It is not the money that matters, it's the idea."
Noting the policy had been delayed by months, Badal said this was because he wanted it to be "foolproof". There would, he indicated, be a comprehensive and interactive web portal to link all departments.
The state, he said, had to be put on a high-growth trajectory. To this end, the new policy would, apart from manufacturing, focus on health, tourism, sports and education. A separate policy for textiles and energy was in the pipeline. Badal has constituted an advisory council comprising 17 leading businessmen including Gautam Thapar, Kamal Oswal, Analjit Singh, Sunil Kant Munjal and Pramod Bhasin, to suggest ways to attract industry to the state.
On local businessmen moving investment out of the state, he said he wasn't alarmed and this was just an attempt by them to hedge risk. "Businessmen from Punjab love to invest here," he said. In recent years, Punjab has lost a lot of investment to northern hill states, especially Himachal Pradesh, because of tax breaks offered by the central government for their development.
On the concern that not enough land was available for new industrial projects, Badal said a land bank of 5,000 to 7,000 acres was being created for this purpose. He said automatic clearance for ecologically-friendly industrial projects would be part of the new policy. To curb procedural delay, the government was moving towards online sanctions and single-site clearances for industrial projects. The government, he added, had already implemented decisions to ease self-attestation and self-declaration.
A new policy on trade was being framed to replace the multiple tax system by one of lump sum/prepaid tax.
The Deputy CM said his government was focusing on power, air and road connectivity, through public-private partnerships. He made some promises in this regard - Punjab would have the best roads in the country within three or four years; it would soon be surplus in power. The state electricity board, he said, had become profitable. He justified the recent rise in power rates, noting several other states had made higher increases. With better VAT (value added tax) collection, he said the state's debt-GDP ratio had improved from 46 per cent five years earlier to 31 per cent at present; he said it would fall to 25 per cent next year.
In collaboration with a German agency, the government was initiating a skill development programme, to address the shortage of skilled workers. Badal also said a new regulatory body on education was on the anvil. And, given the surge of Punjabi films and television programmes, Badal said the government might soon allocate land for state-of-the-art studios in Mohali. This would promote the media and entertainment sector and also boost tourism.
