Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora on Friday said that the State would soon have the best industrial policy amongst all States of the country which would act as a magnet for industrialists not only from other states, but also from round the globe.
Arora said that the State Government is committed for the welfare of industrialists and that is why, the industrial policy was being prepared in consultation with all stakeholders.
The Minister, who was the chief guest at the Punjab Apparel and Textiles Conclave organized by the State Government in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as institutional partner, Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT), Mohali, as academic partner and Wazir Advisors as knowledge partner, said that the new industrial policy will emphasize mainly on small and medium industry and would be ready in next eight to 10 days.
Arora exhorted the entrepreneurs to come forward and invest in textile sector and promised that all facilitation and incentives will be given to them by the State Government as per the new Industrial Policy.
The Department would conduct a number of such conclaves of all important sectors of the industry, identified in the policy, he said adding that the next conclave on the Logistics Sector would be held on August 3 at Ludhiana.
“The objective of this Conclave is to understand the dynamics of textile value chain from fibre to apparel so as to identify the gaps in the value chain which would initiate necessary government interventions to fill these gaps,” he said.
The Minister stated that ever since the Congress came to power in Punjab, different industrialists have invested more than Rs 9,300 crore in the state. “No industrialists are shifting their base to other states now and this could be known from the fact that 55 industrial units, that were shut down in Mandi Gobindgarh a few years back, are now operational. Besides, the state government has also given employment to 1.61 lakh unemployed youth under its Ghar Ghar Rozgar scheme,” he added.
At the same time, The Minister urged the industrialists to follow all set norms and assured that they would not be harassed unnecessarily by officials from any government department if they have fulfilled them. He added that VAT refund would be issued to all parties by December 2018.
Arora announced that a new focal point would be coming up in Ludhiana soon as the Department is already looking for land, besides a private Textile Park is also coming up in Ludhiana. He also announced that once cleared by the Cabinet, the medium units with high load would also get electricity at Rs 5 five per unit.

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