Punjab industry - Industrial Products

PunjabState Monitorconstruction permits, the city is amongst thetop 10 but not the top five. The Bank alsonotes that the total taxes payable as percent of profits are the lowest in Punjab.Leading Investment Destination, IndiaToday’s ‘State of the States Survey’ hasranked Punjab as the Best State for fourconsecutive years (2007-2010), in terms of:InfrastructureConsumer marketsAgriculturePower surplus by 2013Another laudable feature of Punjab is itsself-sufficiency in power. It has both thermaland hydroelectric power projects as itssources courtesy its rivers like the Sutlej andprojects like the Bhakra-Nangal powerproject, Guru Nanak Power project andRopar Power project. Mr Badal says: “Onthe power front, our government hasfocussed its attention on making Punjab apower surplus state by generatingadditional capacity of 9,494 mws. To fulfilthis commitment, work has alreadycommenced at the thermal plants nearTalwandi Sabo (2,640 MW), Goindwal Sahib(540 mw) and Rajpura (2100 mw). An MoUand a power purchase agreement for thethermal plant at Gidderbaha (2,640 mw) hasbeen signed with NTPC for execution as aregional power station”.The state plans to become powersurplus by 2013 and it has distinguisheditself by having one of the lowest industrialtariff in the country. It is supporting itspower infrastructure by both major andminor projects, including29 mini biomass power plantssanctioned with a capacity of 700 MWHaving Asia’s biggest solar powerproject in Hoshiarpur by the Punjab EnergyDevelopment Agency (PEDA)Projects under implementationinclude: Talwandi Sabo 2,600 MW Rajpura2,100 MW Goindwal Sahib 540 MWGidderbaha 2,640 MW Mansa 1,340 MWOn the one hand the Chief Minister waspromising a refinery and on the otherlargely enhanced sources of power supply:Year 2011 “will witness the commissioningof Rs 20,000 crores Bathinda refinery.Besides, the dedication of five thermal plantsbeing built at a combined cost of Rs 62,000crores will put Punjab state on a higherpedestal of growth apart from opening newvistas of employment for Punjabi youththrough skill development initiatives”.Wooing industryPunjab made its serious moves to wooindustry with its Industrial Policy of 2003. Itrealized the need to harness the synergies inagriculture and industry through agriculturebased industry and also to take advantage ofthe emerging services sector and theprospects of globalisedtrade and commerce thatopened out prospects ofknowledge basedindustry.To create a climatefor investment throughinfrastructure creationreduced regulations andgeneral facilitation.To rejuvenate andmake competitive existingindustry, particularly in thesmall-scale sector throughimproved technology, product quality andmarketing.To create a special thrust in the areaswhere Punjab has an edge in terms of costand competitiveness.It realised that IT and IT empoweredservices would be its forte and would helpplace governance on a modern footing.Today Punjab seeks to connect the remotestrural areas with the internet. It is setting upe-governance facilities to ensure lowerresponse time of the administration on theone hand and easier and direct access of thepeople to the government. It alsohas given an excellent accountof itself in terms of supportinfrastructure for thespread of IT:Highest telephonedensity of 47 per centcompared to nationalaverage of 20 per cent in 2007-08Highest per capita cellularconnectivity with more than 12 millioncellular phone subscribers in 2007-08Extensive Optic Fibre Cable (OFC)Network of 25,000 route kms in all towns/villages with more than 5,000 populationEstablishment of dedicated STPIsatellite earth station operational at Mohaliand Jalandhar by VSNL and one proposed inPatiala.To continue to provide impetus of theFebruary 2011PURCHASE 163