Storm alert casts shadow on Punjab’s big investment pitch as summit approaches

The weather may have other plans. Even as Mohali undergoes a feverish facelift to host the sixth Progressive Punjab Investment Summit from March 13 to 15, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday evening issued a yellow alert for thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh — precisely the days when nearly 2,500 industry leaders from across India and several foreign countries are scheduled to descend on the city.The alert, issued by Meteorological Centre Chandigarh in its evening bulletin, forecasts dry and partly cloudy conditions for the summit’s opening day on Friday, March 13. But from Saturday, March 14 — Day 2 of the three-day event — isolated thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds blowing at 30 to 40 kmph are expected to lash the region, continuing through Sunday, March 15, when the summit is scheduled to close with a valedictory session and lunch.The forecast could not have come at a more inconvenient moment. Two of the summit’s most high-profile events fall squarely within the alert window. A special concert by Punjabi singer Karan Aujla, organised for delegates of Invest Punjab on the evening of March 14, and the closing valedictory on March 15 afternoon are both at risk if the weather turns. Any disruption to air traffic at the region's airports could also delay the arrival or departure of delegates — many of them flying in from Japan, South Korea, the UK and other countries for dedicated country sessions.A record high before the storm Ironically, temperatures across the region are running sharply above normal even as the storm warning looms. Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 34.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday — 8.6 degrees above normal for this time of year. Mohali logged 34.3 degrees. Across Punjab, the highest maximum temperature was 34.5 degrees at Bhakra Dam, running nearly six degrees above the seasonal average. Haryana was hotter still, with Narnaul touching 37.5 degrees — a full 8.5 degrees above normal.From Thursday, temperatures will begin to ease. The five-day forecast for the Tricity shows the mercury dropping from 32 degrees on March 12 to 31 on the 13th, 30 on the 14th and 15th, and 29 on March 16 — the day after the summit closes — when partly cloudy skies with thunderstorm and lightning are also forecast.What’s at stakeThe timing of the weather alert adds a new layer of anxiety to what is already the most elaborately organised investment summit Punjab has hosted. The sixth edition of Progressive Punjab Investment Summit — being held after a three-year gap during the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government — is longer, larger and more international in scope than any previous edition.The summit, to be held at Plaksha University — a young science and technology institution on a 50-acre campus in Mohali’s IT City that pitches itself as the ‘Stanford of India’ — will feature 24 sector-focused policy sessions, three dedicated country sessions for Japan, South Korea and the UK, and strategic roundtables with multilateral institutions including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and JICA, as well as Global Capability Centre operators such as NASSCOM, KPMG, EY and BCG.The inaugural session on March 13 will be chaired by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora, who has been closely monitoring preparations, said last week that the summit is “not just an event — it is a statement of Punjab’s intent”.Liaison officers have been assigned to receive delegates at airports, hotels across Mohali have been blocked, and dedicated transport arranged. For guests staying beyond March 15, curated visits to industrial sites and Golden Temple in Amritsar have also been planned — all arrangements now shadowed by the prospect of unseasonal rain and rough winds.Back after three yearsThe summit was first launched in 2015 under the SAD-BJP government as a platform to draw domestic and foreign investment to a border state historically underserved by industry. The Congress government continued the tradition. When AAP swept to power in March 2022, the summit was shelved for three consecutive years, drawing criticism from industry bodies and the political opposition. Its revival in the final year of the Mann government’s term — before Punjab goes to polls early next year — has been widely read as a course correction.A special committee of nearly 10 Administrative Secretaries has been constituted to coordinate preparations. The Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mohali and the Chief Administrator of GMADA have been managing ground-level logistics. Both Mann and Arora have been reviewing progress periodically.Whether Punjab’s investment pitch to the world goes off without a hitch may now depend, in no small measure, on the skies over Mohali co-operating.

Storm alert casts shadow on Punjab’s big investment pitch as summit approaches

The alert, issued by Meteorological Centre Chandigarh in its evening bulletin, forecasts dry and partly cloudy conditions for the summit’s opening day on Friday, March 13

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Storm alert casts shadow on Punjab’s big investment pitch as summit approaches

The alert, issued by Meteorological Centre Chandigarh in its evening bulletin, forecasts dry and partly cloudy conditions for the summit’s opening day on Friday, March 13

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

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