Accusing the Centre to be "discriminatory" against it, the Punjab government today said it should also get an economic package on the lines of the special industrial package given to neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
"This move reflects the discriminatory attitude of the Centre towards Punjab. Our state has suffered a lot due to militancy, tax concessions to neighbouring states..Centre should have also announced an economic package for a border state like Punjab which deserves it the most," Punjab Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal told PTI today.
Mittal accused the Centre of not promoting industrial sector of Punjab which had been demanding industrial package on the lines of hilly areas in order to provide impetus to the state's industrial sector.
"I think the Centre's decision of extending packages to Himachal and Uttarakhand is purely an election stunt as the government at the Centre had already lost its credibility on all fronts," Mittal alleged.
The Centre today extended the special package involving capital investment subsidy and freight subsidy for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till March 2017.
"Centre should provide support to Punjab as well so that state's industrial clusters like hosiery, steel, textiles could also grow," he said.
Punjab government which had been urging the Centre to announce an economic package had even attributed rising debt problem and decline in industrial investment to tax concessions to neighbouring states, militancy and inadequate support by Centre.
The state government on several occasions had claimed that the tax concessions to neighbouring states had not only stopped the inflow of industrial capital investment in the state but had "destroyed" existing industrial units and resulted in a flight of capital.
