Punjab hires Singapore Co for development of Mohali

A singapore company, Jurong International Ltd, has been assigned the job of finalising a master plan for the development of Mohali and other areas of Punjab, adjoining Union Territory of Chandigarh, the Punjab Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia told today.

"After assessing the role of the company in the development of Singapore, we have given one year's time to the company to submit its report for the development of Knowledge city of Mohali as well as peripheral areas of Chandigarh", Kalia said.

For development of other cities of the state, Housing Development Corporation has been assigned the job to chalk out a comprehensive master plan, keeping in mind the development needed in the coming 25 years, Kalia added.

Asked about his reaction to the proposal by the state cabinet to impose house tax in the urban areas of the state, Kalia said BJP has already registered its opposition for burdening the urban citizens on the cost of freebies being extended to the rural areas in the form of free power supply.

"BJP is determined to protect the interests of urban voters and has opposed the imposition of house tax to recover the money being paid for supplying free power supply to agriculture sector", Kalia said adding that even for getting the money from National Urban Renewal Mission, reforms including curb on any kind of freebies are must.

For development of industrial sector in the state and to meet the global challenges for creating conducive environment in the state for industries, Punjab government has approached the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to finalise comprehensive Industrial Policy of the state, Kalia, who also holds the portfolio of Industry, said.

"UNIDO has already contributed in chalking out the industrial policies of Orissa and Gujarat and the results have been very fruitful, as the new industrial policy has given new and fine shape to the economies of these states", Kalia said.

After getting blue print of Industrial Policy from UNIDO, efforts would be made to reach consensus on the same through talks with the industrialists' associations of the state, he added.

Due to the geographical placement of the state, industrialists of the state were paying more on freight to export material to the international ports in the country, Kalia said, adding that efforts were being made to restore the freight subsidy, which was given to industrialists few years ago but stopped due to various reasons. "I am going to meet union Industry minister soon to discuss the issue," he added.

He also advocated the need of equalising freight policy in the country for providing level-playing field to the industrialists of Punjab.

Kalia claimed that after coming into power, SAD-BJP alliance started taking confidence building measures (CBMs) to create investment-friendly environment in the state and distributed capital subsidy of over Rs 100 crore to the industrialists.

About the other CBMs to be taken by the state government, Kalia said Rs 45 crore would be spend on the upgrade of focal points of the states. An idea of establishing the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPHs) was also under consideration to manage such focal points, he added.