Punjab government will support industry for attaining sustainable development : Harpal Singh Cheema

Chandigarh : Stressing on the need for the Industry and the Government to work together for the sustainable development of MSME Clusters of Punjab, the Finance, Planning, Excise & Taxation and Programme Implementation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the Punjab Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has planned to take a multipronged approach and involve different stakeholders at macro, meso and micro level through convergence of available development resources and coordination among stakeholders.

Chairing the session of the Regional Industry Dialogue on Sustainability organized by UNDP & ASSOCHAM (North Region Council) here today, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that there is a need for the industry and the Government to work together for the sustainable development of MSME Clusters.

“For the advancement of the MSME ecosystem in the state, Punjab government and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement was made to start the umbrella initiative “Mission Swavalamban” over a three-year term”, he added.

Sharing some of the initiatives which Government of Punjab has planned to undertake, Cheema said that the state government has been working on the revival of Canal System in the State, besides construction of canals in areas deprived so far, including Kandi belt. Rivers’ water would be protected from being polluted from industrial waste.

Finance Minister further added that the state government would heavily promote the microfinance sector and a supportive environment for private microfinance operators would be created.

“Besides this, to generate employment in the backward Kandi belt adjoining Himachal Pradesh, a new industrial township with special incentives will be developed in Ropar to kickstart state-of-the-art environment-friendly IT and other industry”, said Cheema.

Disclosing further, Finance Minister said that an industrial complex with unique incentives would be built in Ropar to launch cutting-edge, environmentally friendly IT and other industries. Mr. Cheema said that in agriculture sector too special arrangements would be made for sale of crops yielded through organic farming.

The event also witnessed the launch of first of its kind North India Sustainable Economic Forum, a ‘Premier Forum Building Sustainable Regional Economy’ of North India.

The Forum is being established jointly by UNDP & ASSOCHAM (North Region Council), to build and support regional economic development, whilst bridging the gap between long term sustainability and economic growth.

Also present at the event were Uma Shankar Gupta, Managing Director, Punjab Information & Communication Technology Corporation Limited and in addition Additional CEO, Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion, Govt. of Punjab, Ms. Shoko Noda, UNDP Resident Representative India, Mr. Simarpreet Singh, Founder & CEO Hartek Solar Pvt. Ltd. and Chair, Mr. Manoj Rustagi, Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, JSW, Mr. Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group, Ms. Pallavi Atre, Sustainability Head, Global Reporting Initiative and Ms. Ruhana Zariwala, Global Head – Sustainability, Cipla.