Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked industrialists to come back and invest in Punjab so as to improve the economy of the state which was in the shambles. The tax holidays and interest subsidies being given by the neighbouring states will be over by March 2010, and hence the industry will have no choice but to come back to Punjab, he said.

He said this after laying the foundations stone of the Rs 35-crore joint venture of the Vardhman group with Nisshinbo textiles - a Japanese firm, in Ludhiana on Saturday. This collaboration will make 1.8 million shirts per annum and two third of the produce will be exported to USA, Japan and other European markets.

The Vardhman group has invested in Punjab after a long time and before this the expansion was done in Himachal and Madhya Pradesh.

The CM said, “Good times have come back again, and Vardhman has set an example for others.”

Another US company is already having a joint venture with Vardhman in a sewing machine unit.

However, when Newsline asked the CM whether the state government was taking steps for a congenial environment of the industry so that foreign collaborations can take place, he said,”I am hopeful more such ventures will take place in the near future.”

Badal said, “The industry in Punjab earlier suffered due to militancy and later tax holiday plans of the neighbouring states.”

He stated that if Punjab needed to progress, the growth of industry is a must for the agriculture sector. However, he was not confident enough whether the state will be able to give electricity to the industry if it expands because the power plants plans are still in pipeline only.

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