Shaking hands with the printing engineer who presented him with the first copy of Chandigarh Empowered supplement that rolled out, the CM gave it a once over and proceeded to put his imprint on a corner.

Congratulating The Indian Express, he said: “I feel very good today. I am glad the set-up is in Haryana. Anyone who works here will always be successful. “As everyone around smiled, the CM added: “Panchkula is better than Chandigarh.’’

The printing facility is part of the Express Group’s technology modernisation plan under its Imprinting Empowerment Series launched recently.

Hooda was accompanied by Haryana Deputy CM Chander Mohan, Power Minister Venod Sharma, and Minister of State for Forest and Tourism Kiran Choudhary, among others.

Giving a pat to the Express, Kiran Choudhary said: “It’s a tremendous job The Indian Express has done. I congratulate the newspaper and hope the people of Haryana and Punjab benefit from this.’’

The new press got rolling with the lighting of the lamp by Hooda and CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express Shekhar Gupta, among others. Outside, the Chandigarh Police band played a rousing number as a host of VIPs glided down the red carpet.

While the IE empowerment programme focuses on empowering people through information and insight, the Imprinting Empowerment series is a leap forward through technological advancement.

The state-of-the-art printing facility is housed on the swanky new premises of the Express spread over three acres in the prestigious Sector 6 opposite the Panchkula City Centre. “Newspapers should take up issues concerning people and society,’’ Hooda said. “Now that the facility is in Haryana, I hope we will have more pages for the state,’’ the CM quipped.

Deputy CM Chander Mohan and Power Minister Venod Sharma also appreciated the work done by the Express. Former Army Chief Gen V P Malik and Panchkula DC Brijinder Singh were among others who took a tour of the gleaming printing press.