Industrial investment dips to five-year low in Ludhiana district

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, July 3

In what appears to be a cause of concern for industrial development, the investment in setting up new industries in the district has touched a five-year low, the government has confirmed.

As many as 1,127 new industrial units have been set up in the industrial and business hub of the North India during the past six months, which were merely 24 per cent of the 4,710 new industries that had opened in the district during the past year, the official data has revealed.

The official data compiled by the Industries Department, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, showed that Ludhiana, popularly known as the Manchester of India, has a total of 85,196 industrial units, which comprised 79,912 micro, 4,827 small, 457 medium and 80 large-scale industries.

While 43,272 industries were into the service sector, the rest 41,924 industries working here were into the manufacturing units.

The year-wise figures of new industrial units set up here during the past five years indicated that 4,518 new industries had set up base in Ludhiana in 2018, 4,363 in 2019, 5,307 in 2020, highest of 5,783 in 2021, and 4,710 in 2022. However, only 1,127 new industrial units had been established in the district between January 1 and June 30 this year.

It was despite the fact that Ludhiana had got the maximum infrastructure development for industry during the recent past.

Of the total 3,000 acres added to the industrial infrastructure in the state since 2017, a whopping 1,580 acres have been developed in Ludhiana alone.

A mega industrial park spread over 1,000 acres, hi-tech valley over 380 acres, Wazirabad integrated pharma pack over 130 acres and Raikot industrial focal point over 70 acres were developed in Ludhiana district during the past five years.

While Bathinda got a mega industrial park spread over 1,000 acres, an integrated manufacturing cluster over 1,000 acres was developed at Rajpura in Patiala district.

Among other districts, Amritsar got a software technology park, Kapurthala developed a mega food park, Barnala received a textile park, Fazilka attracted a mega food park, Nawanshahr got a textile and apparel park, Mohali developed an IT park, Medicity and STPI, while a light engineering park was developed in Nabha.

“All this was possible with the help of several investor-friendly decisions taken by the state government,” said a top government functionary.

One of the major steps towards this direction was introducing online land allotment through e-auction, which resulted in GIS mapping of industrial plots, online submission and bidding, 46 industrial focal points integrated with industrial information systems. So far, as many as 242 industrial plots have been allotted at various locations in the state through 20 e-auctions.

Another major step taken to promote trade and industry included abolition of truck unions, which impacted regulation and prevention of cartelisation, providing flexibility to industry, competitive freight cost and free and fair movement of goods.

Moreover, the state government had constituted the State Ground Water Authority to facilitate easy approval to industry and users, besides assisting in long-term planning and ensuring regular supply of water. “It has ended the requirement of seeking approval from the Centre,” the official said.

Committed to promoting industry, says MP

“Our government has taken several path-breaking initiatives to promote trade and industry in the state, especially Ludhiana. We will continue to work in consultation with the industry and investors, whom we have already made partners in the decision-making process, to further improve ease of doing business and attract more investment in future,” said Sanjeev Arora, Rajya Sabha MP.

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