Haryana secures Rs 3,500-cr investment commitments in investor summit

NEW DELHI: Haryana received investment commitments worth Rs 3,500 crore during a day-long investor summit held here today.

At the two-day 'Invest North' conclave, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand governments showcased investment opportunities in their respective states and reeled off various steps taken to improve infrastructure and business environment.

"Investment projects worth Rs 3,500 crore (in Haryana) were discussed and are almost finalised," CII said in a statement.

The investment proposals facilitated by CII include an MoU worth Rs 1,630 crore between the Haryana government and Abjit Mercantile -- a bio refinery from Dubai -- for extraction of biodiesel from wheat and rice straw.

Moreover, two proposals worth $250 million and $150 million were discussed with MJ Logistics and Kautilya Logistics, respectively, to set up a logistics supply chain in Hisar, Paliwal and Rewari, in addition to a proposal worth 1,000 crore for manufacturing of helicopters with Eurocopter India, it said.

Speaking at the event, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said "investors are king" and states are competing to attract investments by offering fiscal incentives and removing red-tapism.

"Investors have become the king. The chief minister is running behind investors," Badal said, but cautioned that the "level of competition should not be (such) that states start bleeding".

He said the state has made huge investments to improve infrastructure like providing power and roads in the last eight years, besides creating a separate department 'Invest Punjab', headed by a CEO, for clearing projects in 30 days.

He also said the state has not faced any labour issues and lock-ups.

Punjab has become a surplus power state with investments of $5 billion in the last 5 years, he said, adding that the state government is creating a department to sell surplus power and has even sought the Prime Minister's permission to export power to Pakistan and other neighbouring countries.

Badal announced that from March next year, the state government will make transactions online and paperless.

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, too, enlisted steps that his state has taken to attract investments, including 24X7 power supply.

"Haryana has a locational advantage. Ample land banks are available for industries and power, too. We are determined to improve ease of doing business to increase competitiveness of industries," Khattar added.

The MSME sector will be primarily focussed on achieving Haryana's vision of creating 4,00,000 jobs, CII said quoting Khattar.