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Punjab Govt
May 25, 2008

 

Punjab's New Industrial Policy soon- Badal

Ludhiana May 25, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today said that new industrial Policy of the state would be formulated soon in consultation with the representatives of the Small, Medium and large Industry, once the draft report is submitted by UNIDO to the Govt. to make it more economically viable and investor friendly.

Addressing a well attended function of industrialists organized to disburse Capital Subsidy at Guru Nanak Bhawan here, Mr. Badal said that the Industrial growth , which had been sluggish over past many years was needed to be boosted up, because our agrarian economy had already reached a point of saturation and was nearly stagnant. He however pointed out that the occupation of agriculture had become non enumerative and un viable in view of escalation in the prices of agriculture in puts and industrialization was the only answer to this problem. Mr. Badal said that the state government was committed to disburse capital subsidy backlog of Rs 100 crore during the current financial year and had already disbursed capital subsidy amounting to Rs. 150 crore from Feb. 2007 to march 2008. He said that the Subsidy backlog was pending since 1996 and the previous congress government had not released even a single penny during its tenure of full five years. In the function, the Chief Minister disbursed the capital subsidy of Rs 24.35 crore among 404 Urban Industrial Units from the state.

Elaborating the plans for strengthening the infrastructure for the growth of industry, Mr. Badal said that the state government had given main stress to execute new power projects with capacity ranging from 5000 to 6000 MW power in the state, which would definitely be completed during the coming 5 years and the state would be surplus in power, which he claimed was the most importance ingredient for the industrial growth. He said that in addition 2 Super Thermal Power Stations one at Talwandi Sabo of 1800 MW and another at Rajpura of 1200 MW were being set up and will be operational by 2012. He added that in the infrastructure sector , the state government had also planned to substantially improve the air- connectivity of the state and work on the setting up of second International Airport at Mohali had already been initiated with fast speed and hoped that within a period of 2 to 3 months, the flights would start operating. He also claimed that Shanewal Airport in Ludhiana district was being upgraded for domestic flights, which would facilitate the industrialists visiting from other parts of country to Punjab. To further improve the air connectivity, the government had also set up a civil terminal at Bathinda, he added.

The Chief Minister said that for the proper infrastructure development for the industry in Punjab, the government had constituted Infrastructure Development Council with an eminent developers in private sectors and to ensure the involvement of industry in the decision making, Development Boards for large and medium scale industry, small scale industry and trade have been constituted to suggest policy measures in the state. The CM said that there have been some major constraints in the way of industrial development in Punjab due to Tax holiday and concessions to neighboring states ( HP, J and K, Uttaranchal ) by Government of the India and state government had been repeatedly taking up the matter with GOI to take steps to neutralize the effect of tax holidays in the adjoining areas , but of no avail. He added that the government of Punjab is filing a petition in the Supreme Court of India under article 131 of Constitution of India to quash the Tax holiday given to the neighboring states to save our SSI industry. Mr. Badal said that despite these difficulties, state government is determined to accelerate the pace of Industrial Development. To facilitate the movement of industrial goods from the state, a Freight Corridor was being set up by the government of India from Calcutta to Delhi has been extended up to Ludhiana. Mr. Badal said that he had requested the government of India to extent this up to Amritsar as this would facilitate and boost the export from Punjab to gulf countries. He disclosed that that government was also facilitating the development of industrial parks in the state and four Textile Park Projects have already been approved these include two textile parks at Ludhiana and demanded from GOI to sanction more textile parks for Punjab in view of availability of cotton in the state.

The Chief Minister further said that the government was in touch with government of India to avail maximum assistance under the various development schemes and programmes of Government of India, for this, he personally held a number of meetings with the Prime Minister and concerned Union Ministers. He said that his government was taking steps to further up grade infrastructure in Punjab by four/ six laning of roads, construction of road over bridges, rail over bridges and construction of modern bus terminals. Mr. Badal said that government was also in the process of enacting SEZ Act which will facilitate the development of Special Economic Zones in Punjab and 15 Special Economic Zone projects have been approved by the government of India for state of Punjab and 3 more projects have been recommended to GOI for approval. He informed that the state government has finalized the procedure for approval and monitoring of the implementation of mega projects and grant of clearance by concerned departments to approved mega projects in a time bound manner is being regularly monitored. He said that 12 New Mega Industrial Manufacturing projects with the investment of Rs 1729,59 crore have been sanctioned after the approval of the new procedure. Besides 1 mega IT Park project with the investment of Rs 176 crore has been sanctioned for Ludhiana. He said that in additional 6 more Mega Projects with proposed investment of about Rs 10,000 crore are in pipe line for approval by the government. He said that infrastructure in Industrial Focal Points was being upgraded and an amount of Rs 20 crore has been allocated by the state government for his purpose.

Mr. Manoranjan Kalia Local Bodies and Industrial Minister Punjab said that the industry contributed towards a major share in terms of GDP of the state and the Punjab Government was according full attention to settle all the problems of the industry and to accelerate industrial growth. He said that the state government was committed to the arrears of pending Capital Subsidy Mr. Rajinder Bhadari State President BJP, Mr. Hira Singh Gabria Jails Minister, Mr. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon MP, Mr. Harish Rai Dhanda CPS, Mr. S.S. Channy Principal Secretary Industries and Mr. Inderjit Singh Pardhan Chairman SSI Board also addressed the function.

Among others who were present on this occasion included Mr. Harish Bedi MLA, Mr. Ajay Kumar Mahajan Additional Principal Secretary to CM, Mr. Sumer Singh Gurjar Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Ishwar Singh DIG Ludhiana Range, Mr. Vikas Partarp Singh Commissioner MC, Mr Satish Dhanda Chairman State Board for Medium Industry, Mr. Madan Lal Bagga Deputy Chairman Board for Trade and Commerce, Mr. Harkam Singh Gyaspur Mayor MC, Mr. Anil Sareen State Secretary BJP, Mr. O P Bhardwaj District President BJP and Mr. Amarjit Singh Bhatia Vice President District SAD.


BADAL ASSURES PSGPC FOR RELAXATION IN VISA NORMS
Chandigarh May 25: -

The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today assured the joint delegation of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) and International Commission of Human Rights (ICHR) Pakistan that he would soon take up the issue with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India for relaxation in visa norms to enable the people to visit their places of faith besides socializing with their relations settled across both sides of Indo-Pak border.

An assurance to this effect was given by Mr. Badal to the delegation led by PSGPC President Jathedar Bishan Singh, which called on him at his residence this evening in the presence of President Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee Jathedar Avtar Singh. Mr. Badal expressed his keen desire that people of both these countries should freely and frequently visit to meet their relations besides promoting economic and cultural ties as we shared a common rich cultural heritage and legacy. He said this could only be feasible if the visa restrictions imposed by the governments are further relaxed.

Mr. Badal informed the PSGPC President Jathedar Bishan Singh that he had already taken up the issue with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Union External Affairs Mr. Pranab Mukharji for allowing a direct corridor to Gurdwara Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji at Kartarpur (on Pakistan side) via Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur District which was hardly 3 K.Ms to facilitate the devotees to pay obeisance at this sacred place related with the founder of Sikhism Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Apart from this the two issues; one, opening of a Visa center at Amritsar and another allowing the boarding facility to the passengers of Samjauta Express from Amritsar railway station would also be taken up on the priority, added Mr. Badal.

The visiting delegation thanked the Chief Minister for declaring them state guests and making all the arrangements of their boarding and lodging at New Delhi and Ajmer Sharif where they were slated to visit their holy shrine.

The Chief Minister accompanied by his Advisor Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, Principal Secretary D.S. Guru and Special principal Secretary K.J.S. Cheema.

The delegation consisted of member PSGPC S. Rawail Singh, S. Amrik Singh and Kaka Singh both members Sub-Committee Gurdwara Sri Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib besides the members of ICHR Pakistan which included its senior vice Chairman Ch. Nasir. M. Ali, Chief organizer Hafiz Liaqat Ali Zia, Chairperson Women wing Ms. Mehnaz Atta Chaudhary, President District Sargodha Pakistan Javed Iqbal Tiwana and Member ICHR Syed Kamalu Din.


Sukhbir Singh Badal today hailed the outcome of the Amritsar (South) by-poll results

Chandigarh May 25 – The Shiromani Akali Dal president Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal today hailed the outcome of the Amritsar (South) by-poll results as a "a forceful mandate for good governance and a stamp of popular approval on the futuristic vision unfolded by the by the SAD-BJP alliance over the past 16 months."
In a statement here, Mr. Badal said that the significant increase in the percentage from 62.5 to 65.5% in votes polled by the ruling combine since February 2007 was also a strong rebuff to the negative and destructive politics pursued by the Congress party and its leaders." Mr. Badal said that that twin agenda of upliftment of the poor as well as the thrust towards making Punjab a front-ranking global state stands ratified by the people of the state who cut across religious and class lines to give a strong pat on the back on the SAD-BJ government." The margin of victory would have been astounding if the turn out had been as heavy as last time, he said.
The SAD president further said that the verdict had filled him and his party with "even greater humility and a sense of increased commitment and responsibility to serve the people of Punjab"
Mr. Badal said that the free and fair conduct of the poll "has now robbed the Congress party of all excuses for its massive defeat." He said that the six percent increase since February 2007 in the SAD-BJP's margin of victory over the Congress clearly showed the growing popularity of the policies and programmes being pursued y he government headed by Sardar Parkash Singh Badal.
He SAD president thanked all his party workers, leaders, office bearers and rank and file for working day and night to ensuring this thumping win for the ruling alliance.

 

 

 

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