M A I N   N E W S

Punjab investment— reality check-II
It’s time for speedy clearances
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 29
The Punjab Government’s vision to create a one-stop clearance for all fresh investments is good, but implementation of the aspect in the state’s New Industrial Policy will be the key to its march from an agrarian to industrialised economy.

One of the major impediments to getting big-ticket investments in Punjab has been the state’s inability to create a single-window clearance for projects. Several investors - whose projects had earlier been cleared by the state government’s High Powered Committee under the Mega Projects Policy - had failed to start their projects due to the “cumbersome” procedures of getting them approved. Unlike Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh offer single-window clearance system, which is a major attraction for investors.

Now, after constituting the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion, which will work under the investment promotion department and can grant 27 approvals for a new project to begin operations, the state aims at portraying itself to be investor friendly.

A brainchild of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Bureau has now started approaching investors to ensure that the proposals fructify.

Nahar Industries’ Managing Director Kamal Oswal said the Bureau would monitor all works and ensure that they were completed within stipulated time without any hiccups.

But, officers sound a word of caution. Terming constitution of the Bureau a step in the right direction, former member of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and retired IAS officer Swarn Singh Boparai said its success would depend on the intention and attitude of the government. “That is what proved crucial in the past,” he said.

Meanwhile, besides recruiting other staff, the state government appointed Anirudh Tiwari as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau (see box). The government has planned to appoint at least five graduates from top business schools who will be given charge of various sectors of the industry to follow up investment proposals and follow them till the projects take off. The CEO will have the power to sanction all proposals that come to the Bureau within three to four weeks.

The Bureau will comprise a board of governors chaired by the chief minister and the deputy chief minister and an executive committee chaired by the chief secretary to guide, monitor and review the functioning of the Board.

The board of governors will be the apex body, while the day-to-day functioning of the Bureau would be overseen by the Executive Committee and the CEO.

The Punjab Government (SAD-BJP Government in its first term) had come up with a deemed approval policy where the proposal for investment would be considered as approved within 30 days if approval from all departments concerned was not granted to the investor. However, this scheme never really took off and much before recession hit the country, Punjab lost out on major industrial investment.

Bureau that will make it possible

• The Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion will have the power to grant 27 approvals for a new project to begin operations
• Will monitor all works and ensure that they are completed within stipulated time without any hiccups
• A brainchild of the deputy CM, the Bureau has already started approaching investors to ensure that the proposals fructify