• Punjab has enormous potential to be leading state in Textiles, emphasises H&UD Minister
• Also offers personalised task force for the industry
Chandigarh, February 24:
Punjab has enormous potential to be a leading state in Textiles and apparel production across the country, said Mr Aman Arora, Minister of Housing & Urban Development and Information and Public Relations, while inviting investors to ‘Invest in the Best’ state as Chief Minister S Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has been supporting the industry wholeheartedly.
Chairing the “Textile in Punjab- Policy, Infrastructure, Linkages & Trends” session during 2nd & concluding day of 5th Progressive Punjab Investors’ Summit 2023 at India School of Business (ISB), SAS Nagar (Mohali) on Friday, Mr Aman Arora offered all kind of support including personalised task force to the industrialists.
“Industrialists can make a task force, in which they can pick the government officers as per their choice, so that their issues could be resolved at the earliest,” he said, while assuring that water charges will also be reduced as per the demand of the industry. He urged the industrialists to come up with out of the box ideas for industrial revolution in the state and Mann government is ready to welcome with open arms.
Mr Aman Arora stated that the Summit will give a huge push to inflow of investments for putting the state on high growth trajectory of industrial growth. Punjab has emerged as a most preferred destination for investment due to transparent and honest model of governance of Punjab Government.
He said that Industry just want a support system and conducive environment and Mann Government has already been making concerted efforts to ensure Ease of Doing Business, besides providing conducive ecosystem and skilled labour to the industry.
Punjab has three iconic textile and apparel clusters— Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, which possesses complete textile value chain, he said, while adding that the state houses over 1,200 units of textile and wearing apparel, employing over 1.2 lakh persons directly.
Notably, Punjab is a home to major textile players including Trident, Nahar, Vardhman, Shingora, Sportking, Nivia, Savi, Avani Textiles, JCT Mills, and Indian Acrylics, and recently Sanathan Textiles has invested Rs 1600 crores in the State. Textiles and apparels from Punjab have also made a niche internationally with apparels being produced for international brands like Zara, H&M to JC Penny and our net balls being used in the Commonwealth Games.
On the skilled manpower front, the cabinet minister said that Punjab has 11 major specialised research institutes engaged in the textile sector. Besides, there were over 350 ITIs offering over 70 courses, including textile and apparel sector courses, with an intake capacity of about 80,000 students. Additionally, there are more than 1,000 skill development centres in the state with a total training capacity of 60,000. Under textile and apparel sector, Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) has empaneled 250 training partners.
MD Punjab Skill Development Mission Mrs. Deepti Uppal said that the Industrial policy of the state has been designed as per the need of the hour. Punjab is providing electricity duty exemption, besides, offering 100% exemption/reimbursement from Land Development Charges and Stamp Duty Charges. She highlighted that Punjab is the largest exporter of the textile products. The state government has been giving special focus on MSMEs.
The Cabinet Minister felicitated the panelists MD Sanathan Textiles Mr. Paresh Dattani, CEO Savi Exports Mr. Mukul Verma, Chairman CII and President Ganga Acrowools Mr. Amit Thapar and MD Shingora Textiles Mr. Amit Jain.
