PUNJAB’S LOCAL Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu Sunday targeted the ‘Progressive Summits’ organised by former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to attract investment, claiming that of MoUs worth Rs 120196.7 crore, only Rs 6,651 crore were invested. Addressing mediapersons, Sidhu provided information obtained under RTI Act to show only that 5.5 per cent of the investment promised was realised. He said out of 391 companies, with whom the state government signed MoUs in the Progressive Summit in 2015, only 46 companies actually invested. “This showed trust deficit of investors in Badals,” he said. The minister said despite the tall claims of junior Badal, Rs 1.13 lakh crore worth investment was also promised. But was not invested. He said out of 84 MoUs signed in the real estate sector worth Rs 59,102 crore, only six companies turned up with an investment of Rs 2,039 crore. This was only 3.5 per cent of the amount promised, he said. The RTI information was procured by Daljit Singh Gilzian, son of MLA Sangat Singh Gilzian in 2016, ahead of the Assembly election. Sidhu alleged that Sukhbir had spent crores on organising the summit and Rs 5 crore was spent only on newspaper advertisements, hospitality of guests and organisation of summit. He said it is a matter of record that 18,770 industries flee from the state from 2007-2014.
