The North News
Rajpura, October 1
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday said the state was on course to become India’s next business hub, citing industrial-friendly policies and a growing climate for investment. Speaking at the inauguration of Dutch company De Heus’s animal feed plant in Rajpura, Mann said Punjab had seen a “paradigm shift” in its industrial journey over the past three years. He said investors from across the world had recognised Punjab’s potential, with investment proposals worth ₹1.23 lakh crore since March 2022, creating the prospect of more than 4.7 lakh jobs.
The Chief Minister highlighted Punjab’s role as India’s food basket and said it had also become an industrial powerhouse in sectors including food processing, textiles, auto components, hand tools, bicycles, IT and tourism. Companies such as Nestlé, Cargill, Danone and Verbio had set up operations in the state, he noted, with investors from countries including Japan, the US, Germany, France and the UAE.
Mann said his government had created an investor-friendly ecosystem through measures such as the FastTrack Punjab Portal, India’s most advanced single-window clearance system. The state had also formed 24 sectoral committees led by industry leaders to shape policies, he added.
The De Heus plant, set up with an investment of ₹150 crore, has a capacity of 180,000 metric tonnes of animal feed, expandable to 240,000 tonnes. Mann said it would create jobs and boost Punjab’s dairy culture, describing the company’s adoption of zero-pollution technology as a step towards sustainability.
Reflecting on Punjab’s resilience, Mann also recalled the recent floods that affected 2 million people, submerged 2,300 villages and caused damage worth an estimated ₹13,800 crore. He said the state had the strength to recover and would “shine across the globe”.
