New Delhi, March 13
The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, said today that state Cabinet would be expanded again after “three-four” months.
He said the state government would present
details of the assets held by a former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, before the Ropar court. The court was hearing “counter-defamation case” against Mr Dhumal. “He (Mr Dhumal) called me a liar... let him
apologies,’’ Capt Amarinder Singh said.
Capt Amarinder Singh, who is scheduled to appear before a court in Shimla on March 14 in a defamation case filed by Mr Dhumal, said he would approach the court for seeking another date as he was preoccupied.
To a question, the Chief Minister said there was no proposal yet to hike the power tariff in the state. The Chief Minister said the Punjab Government would bring a resolution in the forthcoming Budget session urging the Centre to grant package of incentives for the revival of industry in the state.
Capt Amarinder Singh proposed to provide freight subsidy to exporters from Punjab so as to neutralise the additional freight cost.
He said the grant of the fiscal incentives by the Centre for neighbouring states, which included 100 per cent excise duty exemption, 100 per cent income tax exemption and many other incentives, had sounded the death knell for industrial growth in Punjab and had led to the flight of capital from the state. Added to this was the pressure being faced by the Punjab industry due to global competition in the new WTO regime, he said. It would lead to a large-scale unemployment and rendering the industry uncompetitive, which could lead to social unrest, he
added.
