Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) ‘Destination Punjab’ was today inaugurated here by Sukhbir Singh Badal, deputy chief minister, Punjab.
“We will provide the best infrastructure to industry in Punjab and I assure CII that we will make the state an investment destination of choice, we are focusing on the core needs of industry — power, infrastructure and technically skilled manpower — and are progressing very well in all directions, ” said Badal, after inaugurating ‘Destination Punjab’, organised by CII at Amritsar in association with the government of Punjab.
Visibly impressed at the range of products and services on display at the expo which is spread over 6,000 square meters, with participation of more than 120 exhibitors, the deputy CM emphasised that there should be a major interaction with industries in Punjab to bring about a big transformation in the state. Commenting upon the industry friendly infrastructure, he added, “Already private power players like GVK Power, L&T and Sterlite Energy are setting up power plants in the state. With the commencement of these power plants, the state would be power surplus very soon. The additional power would be supplied to other cities as well.”
He said that the big cities of the state will be connected with four lane roads in the next two to three years. Further, air connectivity in the state will get a shot in the arm with the commencement of international flights from Mohali International airport and the upgradation of other airports in the state.
Also, in order to facilitate the industry for organising expo and conferences, he mentioned that the state is setting up convention centres in Punjab. Amritsar would hav two such centres while it will also come up at Mohali and Ludhiana soon...”
Talking specifically about Amritsar, he said a major attention is being given to make Amritsar a tourism attraction of the world. The state government is spending Rs 120 crore on new development projects for the city of The holy ‘golden temple’. He informed that a new personal rapid system was being developed for the city to ease congestion.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Harpal Singh, former chairman, CII and chairman Emeritus, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, pointed out that in the world there has been a major economic shift with large companies looking at investing in the East. The efforts of CII are directed towards channelling these investments and ‘Destination Punjab’ is a step in this direction. As more investments pour into Punjab, it will a beneficial impact financially as well as socially on the state and would help it overcome the problems of unemployment, drug abuse, etc while also becoming a catalyst towards empowering women
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According to Pikender Pal Singh, regional director, CII Northern region “CII’s prestigious events have always created an investment platform for the state, be it our Agrotech at Chandigarh, Industrial Expo at Haridwar or Ceraglass at Jaipur. With knowledge events like vendor development programs and focused sectoral discussions, CII is confident that ‘Destination Punjab’ will promote the interest of the industry and state in a composite manner. We have already decided to institutionalise this event as an annual show keeping in view the enormous interest shown by the industry”.
The Mega Expo has been designed to be a platform for the business world to interact and forge partnerships and bring forth newer investments and entrepreneurship opportunities for the future of Punjab. The event which is a first-of-its-kind show which will benefit the key sectors like farm equipment, implements and machinery ; textile and textile machinery; engineering goods; auto and machine tools, leather and sports goods and tourist and hospitality.