Punjab to set up three industrial parks on panchayat land

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18

Considering that availability of land is a major impediment in boosting industrialisation in the state, the Punjab government is gearing up to address the issue. After the Cycle Valley in Ludhiana, the state intends to develop industrial parks at Rajpura, Kadian Khurd in Ludhiana and Wazirabad in Fatehgarh Sahib. Spread over 1,250 acres, the proposed industrial parks will be developed on gram panchayat land identified by the state.

As far as funding is concerned, it would be through internal accruals and proceeds from the sale of plots.

A study conducted by industry body FICCI in 2012 suggested that the state government should enhance the attractiveness of the state as an industry hub by addressing the problems of land shortage and its exorbitant prices.

Since the industrial estates and focal points in some of the major cities of Punjab such as Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar have become highly congested, there is a dire need to develop new industrial parks.

Considering the existing constraints, the state plans to set up Industrial Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) spread over 1,000 acres of gram panchayat land in five villages of Rajpura under Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) Project. The in-principle approval has already been given to the project by the Punjab Industrial and Business Development Board.

For the second park, the Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation (PSIEC) —department concerned for the purpose — has identified around 125 acres of gram panchayat land at Kadiana Khurd village, near upcoming Hi-tech Cycle Valley at Dhanansu village, Ludhiana.

The third park would be spread over 133 acres at Wazirabad village for which the panchayat has already passed resolution for transfer of land for industrial park. The corporation has already conducted survey and identified land for external linkage from NH-44. Now, the matter has been taken up with Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, for fixation of land rate and finalising modalities of payments by the District Level Price Fixation Committee.

“The total project cost for developing all three parks will be around Rs 500 crore, including the cost of land. We are working on the modalities for the procurement of land and on the funding pattern,” said Rahul Bhandari, managing director, Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation (PSIEC).

According to sources, since the corporation doesn’t have deep pockets, it has proposed three payment structures for the compensation to the panchayat department towards land acquisition cost. The PSIEC intends to pay the entire compensation amount in seven years. The proposal is yet to be approved by the Cabinet. Since the compensation towards the cost of land has to be given over a period of time, it will not put immediate financial burden on the corporation and it can fund the project from internal accruals and earning from sale proceeds.

In addition to this, the state has also plans to develop in future 800 acres of gram panchayat land for setting up Industrial Park at Kapurthala and Plastic Park at Sangrur on 120 acres.

In the offing 

Name of the project Area

Industrial Manufacturing Cluster, Rajpura 1,000 acres

Industrial Park, Kadian Khurd (Ludhiana) 125 acres

Industrial Park, Wazirabad 133 acres