Ambanis, Mahindras ready to set up mega projects in Punjab

Wednesday, 12/04/2017

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Mumbai/Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday met top industry leaders who evinced keen interest to invest and set up projects in the state.

On the second day of his Mumbai visit, the Chief Minister discussed in separate meetings with business leaders investment opportunities in Punjab.

Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani expressed his interest to set up testing ranges for his new defence projects in Punjab and sought land for the same. RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka also evinced interest in setting up a tractor tyre plant in the state, a Chief Minister Office (CMO) release said here.

The Chief Minister invited them to explore the viability of the projects, extending his government’s full support for the same by providing them the necessary land and other facilities for the development of industrial units.

He also welcomed Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra’s offer for digitisation of the state’s urban local bodies, besides the establishment of an integrated emergency management system.

Mahindra also offered support to the state government’s plans to start an online cab service to facilitate self-employment for youth.

Hindustan Unilever CEO and MD Sanjiv Mehta, in his meeting with the Chief Minister, expressed his company’s keenness to procure tomatoes and citrus fruits on a large scale from the state for its Kisan jams and squashes, the release said.

During his meeting, Anil Ambani drew the Chief Minister’s attention towards huge losses incurred by Punjab due to purchase of power at a high cost and also extended an offer to make available power to the state at Rs 1.75 per unit.

He urged the Chief Minister to direct the power regulator and the state grid to go for the cheapest power, to which Amarinder promised to revisit all the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to assess the cost differential.

Inviting Reliance Group to Punjab for setting up its defence projects, the Chief Minister promised to arrange land for the establishment of testing ranges in Bathinda and Rajpura.

In response to a suggestion by Ambani for introducing the metro rail service in the state on build and transfer model, Amarinder invited them to study the urban transport system in Ludhiana to explore the possibility of setting up an elevated metro.

Reliance to provide WiFi in schools, colleges

Mumbai/Chandigarh: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday promised a slew of investment initiatives for the development of Punjab across a wide spectrum of sectors, including free WiFi to government educational and health institutions, employment for youth, and training of sportspersons for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Ambani extended these offerings to the state government during a meeting with a Punjab government delegation.

The delegation, led by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, held a series of meetings on Tuesday afternoon with top industry leaders, including Ambani, Hinduja Group Director Shom Ashok Hinduja, and Larsen and Tourbo (L&T) Director and Executive Vice President (Power and Heavy Engg and Defence) Shailendra N Roy.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh could not attend these meetings, scheduled for late afternoon, as he was indisposed because of the relapse of his foot injury, according to Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral. Captain Amarinder had a foot injury during the assembly election campaign which was troubling him again and the doctor had advised him to rest his foot during the afternoon, said Thukral.