Punjab News- CM constitutes committee to hold parleys with Tata for firming up investment in state

Amritsar, October 5, 2013: The Punjab Government and the TATA Group initiated a large scale engagement to take the state to the next level of development and make Punjab  a key destination of the country’s premier  business, trade and industrial power-house in a wide-ranging sweep of projects, which cover building top-end model townships, power, renewable energy, world class hotel chains, solid and water waste management, modernising the state’s already solid infrastructure along global lines and introducing state-of-the art rapid transport facility in major cities and towns of state.

The Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also announced to constitute a high level committee of the officers from the state government under the Chief Secretary which would have detailed parleys with the Tata group for firming up the investment proposals.

The TATAs  under-lined their keen interest in the state as a major investment  destination, as they brought one of their strongest teams ever to visit a state on a business mission, headed by their Chairman Cyrus Mistry,  comprising MD TRIL Sanjay Ubale, Members GEC TATA Madhu Kanan and Dr. Nirmalya Kumar, MD TATA Reality Phillip Karkaria, Head TATA Housing Shashi Kumar, Head Government TSUs Tanmay Charvarthy, Chairman TATA Skills HN Srinivas and others.

The Group also showed a strong inclination to join and supplement the efforts of the state government in taking the state to the next level of development in education, health infrastructure and e-governance, including on-line citizen delivery system, which forms the central component of governance reforms being spearheaded by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Mistry gave an indication of the seriousness of purpose behind his visit when he showered liberal, praise on the state government, saying in his view the government was “not only the warmest and most spontaneous but also extremely serious and businesslike” in its approach, while addressing a meeting of his high-powered mission and top-ranking government officials of the state in the presence of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister.

The Chairman also spoke about large-scale projects with huge employment potential for local youth, saying that his Group believed in training and employing local youth for a  mutually beneficial interaction.

Significantly, this was Cyrus Mistry’s second visit to the state and his third meeting with the Chief Minister in less than six months, giving an indication of the proposed level of engagement that he foresees for his group in development activity in the state. In addition, Mistry has also met the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal twice during this period.

The Chief Minister assured the Group Chairman that his government would “act fast” on development projects. For this, we have already set in motion a process known as ‘Governance Reforms’ aimed at cutting red tape and ensuring efficiency, transparency and accountability in decision making.  Badal said that the Reserve Bank of India had rated Punjab as one of the three best investment destinations in the country. The state had the most congenial industrial relations and business climate and there was an atmosphere of complete peace and communal harmony in the state, something that was vital for investment and development. Infrastructure in the state has repeatedly been rated as the best in the country and so has been its profile as a rich consumerist state.

Underlining the need for massive industrial development in the state, the Chief Minister said that it would give the much required boost to its overall development besides opening new vistas of trade and commerce for the Punjabis. He said that due to the path breaking initiatives taken up by the state government Punjab has today emerged as a leading investment destination in the country.

Expressing keenness to collaborate with the Tata Group in the fields of Renewable Energy, Hotel Industry, On-line Citizen Service Delivery Portal, Model Townships, Bus Rapid Transport System as also e-Learning for School Education, the Chief Minister said that he had already asked the concerned officers of the state government to interact with the team of the Tata Group to ensure that the said projects were in place. He said that he was sure that such a collaboration would go a long way in the development and industrialisation of the State and offer many more opportunities to its residents. He informed Mistry that the state government has recently approved a liberal Package of Incentives for attracting new Investments into the state. 

The Chief Minister said that for the first time, a unique policy of  VAT and CST retention  has been allowed, in addition Electricity Duty Incentive, Stamp Duty Incentive and Property Tax Incentive were available, besides special incentives pertinent to specific sectors adding that due to the concerted efforts of the state government, Punjab would soon become a power surplus state. Impressing upon the Chairman of TATA group to make huge investments in the state, Badal said that the state government was committed to ensure a congenial investment friendly atmosphere in Punjab.

During discussions, the Deputy Chief Minister while underscoring the need for providing quality services to the residents of the state said that the Tata sons must support the state government in effectively delivering civic services to the people besides solving the problems like disposal of waste water, solid waste management and others which were a cause of major concern for the civic bodies. Sukhbir Singh Badal also laid thrust on the need for improving the Health care facilities and the civic administration in the cities. The Deputy Chief Minister also solicited the support of Tata group for developing the cities of Punjab as model cities equipped with the world class civic amenities.

Assuring fulsome support and co-operation to the Tata group in this matter, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the state government has already initiated a slew of reforms to promote industrial development in the state. He said that a new Hotel policy to encourage investment in the Hotel sector was already on cards adding that it would further encourage the prospects of this industry in the state.

The Group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry unveiled a wide-ranging sweep of projects that covered various important sectors.  Mistry apprised both the leaders that the group would make massive investment in infra structure projects to be conceived by the state government in the coming time. He said that the company was also working on a number of housing projects in Chandigarh, Mohali and Ludhiana which would enable the people to get world class housing facilities. Mistry also informed the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister that the company was coming up with a number of projects in Hotel industry in cities like Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mohali and others.

The Chairman of Tata sons also informed that the company was already working on the project regarding the optimum utilisation of the solar energy by installing rooftop solar projects over the government buildings. Likewise Mistry said that a proposal to produce solar energy by utilising the land over water canals was also in pipeline. He said that the company was also working on a project to aptly utilise the municipal waste to produce energy in the cities.

Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Cabinet Ministers Bikram Singh Majithia, Anil Joshi and Madan Mohan Mittal, Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister SK Sandhu, Principal Secretary Industries Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary Education Anjali Bhawra, Secretary Housing A Venuprasad, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister KJS Cheema, Secretary Local Bodies Ashok Gupta, besides several other senior officers of the state government.