Ludhiana gets max infrastructure development for industry

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 15

Ludhiana, which is considered the industrial capital of the state, has got the maximum infrastructure development for industry during the present regime, the government has confirmed.

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Our government has taken several path-breaking initiatives to promote trade and industry in the state. We will continue to work in consultation with the industry and the investors, whom we have already made partners in the decision-making process, to further improve ease of doing business in Punjab. Charanjit Singh Channi, Chief Minister

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, officials have revealed.

Sharing details, Rajat Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Invest Punjab, the state government’s one-stop unified regulator controlling 23 different departments to provide advanced single-window facilitation to the investors, told The Tribune on Monday that 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 four and a half 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 the Invest Punjab CEO.

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 and 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 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. “This has ended the requirement of seeking approval from the Centre,” added Agarwal.

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