IT players come to Punjab, discover life in the slow lane

Single-window facilities proved to be a myth as Quark officials had to travel to Patiala and Ropar for the requisite clearance. And they even had to dig their own borewell for water.

The saga of delays continued. The officials submitted their building plans to the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation on January 10, 2000, but the plans were “passed” only on June 23. Finally a senior official from the nodal Punjab Electronics and Power Corporation (ECP) was forced to intervene and get clearance.

When the company began construction of its multi-crore state-of-the-art complex to house 700 engineers, complete with an amphitheatre and swimming pool, it came up against another hurdle: The Mohali truck union prohibited its trucks from transporting the material.

Bal V. Sehgal, Executive Director of the company says: “IT companies expect red-carpet treatment and not redtapism. In other states, you come today and start tomorrow.”

For the US based $ 100 million-plus NYX Software Design Private Limited, the going has probably been tougher. Its president Chain Singh Sandhu wishes to set up a software industry and training institute for technical manpower because of “emotional bondage” and the feeling that he `owes’ something to apna Punjab.

The idea gelled during a visit to the state in 1998 and in January 1999, he applied for a plot. The application form clearly specified that plots would be allotted in 3-4 months time. Eight months later, a representative of the company was summoned for an interview. There wasn’t a single technocrat on the interview committee. Ultimately the proposal was rejected in May.

According to ECP Managing Director G.S. Pirzada, spearheading the investment drive, the proposal was rejected on legal grounds. “Officials in the industries department found that he did not have a Power of Attorney from the proprietor,” he said. However, much of Pirzada’s and Industries Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh’s assurances to prospective investors turn out to be bluster due to the multiplicity of agencies involved.

This year, NYX again submitted two applications for land. Last month, they were summoned for another interview and assured they would get the land in a few weeks’ time — they are still waiting.

Interestingly, the Indian representatives of both these companies have not been communicating the real truth to their bosses in the US, for fear they would decide to shelve the projects. Yet, as a senior employee puts it, they are not the only losers; the delay results in loss of revenue for the Punjab government.

And it’s not just foreign companies that face problems. Mahindra Realty And Infrastructure Developers Limited, which signed an MoU with the state government to establish a hi-tech 250 crore Knowledge Park in Mohali, way back in May 1999, finds the project yet to take off. After much chopping and changg of the site and revision of the initial MoU, the project was recently cleared by the state’s high-powered Project Approval Board for the second time.The company’s senior advisor says that they had to initiate an inquiry process and create enough interest in Mohali as a destination for potential investors before going ahead.