Software firm Quark Inc to invest another Rs 500cr in Punjab

Capt Amarinder Singh said the government had also put on fast track the disinvestment of four public sector undertakings—Punjab Alkalies, Punjab Tourism, Punjab Communications and Punjab Conware. He said the government will make a complete exit from all these companies. Going beyond his much-hyped drive against corruption, the Punjab Chief Minister drew attention to his government’s efforts on the development front in terms of infrastructure, agriculture, industry and administrative reforms.

The Chief Minister said the state was promoting two biotechnology parks, one of which would be in Patiala. These parks would cater to biotech research focused on agriculture, not pharmaceuticals, he added. Ludhiana and Jalandhar were being developed as the textiles and sports goods hubs, respectively, in the state, he also added. He said the government would shortly commission Rs 2,000 crore of infrastructure projects on a build-own-operate and build-own-operate-transfer (BOO & BOOT) basis.

This would include 1,000 km of new roads, 42 rail overbridges and 5 new major bridges. Also on the anvil is the four-laning of major highways through the state, he added. On the power shortfall with 5,800 mw available against the statewide peak demand of 6,200 mw, Capt Amarinder Singh said the generation capacity of the thermal power plant near Bathinda would be doubled to 1,000 mw.

The state government was turning to multilateral agencies for funding infrastructure projects, he said, adding that the World Bank had already approved a Rs 900-crore loan for irrigation projects and another Rs 800 crore to build highways.

The Chief Minister also said the government was gearing up for downsizing and administrative reform and here, too, it was in talks with the World Bank for a debt swap offer to finance its golden handshake and voluntary retirement schemes.