Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann at Vision Punjab 2022, organised by Invest Punjab and ASSOCHAM. (Express photo by Jasbir Malhi)Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Friday asked industrialists to collaborate with the government and assured them to purchase three goods trains which will run from Punjab to Kandla port so that they do not have to pay transport charges for importing and exporting goods.
Addressing industrialists at Vision Punjab 2022, an industrial summit organised by Invest Punjab and ASSOCHAM, Mann said, “Let us become the first state in India to have its own trains. We can take machines like tractors from here and bring back goods imported by our industrialists. We will name our trains Punjab on Wheels.”
He said a goods train costs Rs 350 crore and a loan could be taken at 3 per cent interest. “We can purchase trains if industrialists are ready. They can transport their hosiery, tractors, sports goods and other items beings exported and imported by them,” he said, adding that the industrialists told him that they had to pay transport charges of Rs 25,000 for every tractor.
The CM said the state had a dry port at Dhandhari but it did not have a sea port. “We cannot bring the sea here. But we can purchase trains,” he said.
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He asked the industrialists to stay put in the state as many opportunities will be coming their way. “I can assure you that Punjab will become a hub of industry.”
Mann also assured them that the next Invest Punjab summit will not be held in a five-star hotel. “We will show you Punjab which you would not have seen. We can organise it at Anandpur Sahib museum, Ranjit Sagar that has a 15-km island. I can bet that it is much better than Udaipur’s lake. I have not seen such blue waters, I have seen the world.”
While mocking the SAD-BJP government during which palm trees were imported from Dubai ahead of investors’ summit, he said, “Even palms were imported from Dubai. You know where you get to see them now.” The palm trees were transplanted at former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s village.
The CM lamented that MoUs were signed but no investments were visible on the ground. “I can assure you that system will change. I am happy to announce that Tata Group is setting up its biggest unit after Jamshedpur in Ludhiana. There would be no mafia, nobody will come with my visiting card to you seeking anything. There would be congenial environment for the industry and also the facilities.”
“It is a fresh start. People have given me a pen with faith. I will not break their faith. You are the government. Industrial policy will be prepared after taking industrialists into confidence. If your chimneys will have smoke, then our kitchen fires will burn. We do not want to convert Punjab into Canada. But we just want our Punjab restored to its original glory,” he said.
Mann said that uninterrupted power, corruption-free administration, supportive government machinery, pool of skilled labour coupled with pro-industrial policies of the state government will further give a boost to industrial development in the state. The day is not far when Punjab will lead the country in industrial development.
Motivating young entrepreneurs, the CM said that their success and not merely lip service will reflect their strength. Punjabis have been blessed with spirit of hard work, dedication and entrepreneurial skills due to which they have carved a niche for themselves across the globe.
CEO Invest Punjab Kamal Kishor Yadav welcomed the CM and other dignitaries.
Prominent amongst those present on the occasion were Cabinet Ministers Harpal Cheema, Anmol Gagan Mann and Brahm Shankar Jimpa, MP Vikramjeet Singh Sahney and Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua.