Business Centre to come up at Wagah border for Indo-Pak trade

Amritsar, May 6 (UNI) Setting a scorching pace for development activity in Punjab, especially in the border areas, Chief Minster Parkash Singh Badal today announced the setting up of a 100 acre state-of-the-art modern Business Centre at Wagah border for facilitating trade with Pakistan.

The Business Centre as well as the Wagah border would be connected to Amritsar by a four lane super highway within two years.

The Chief Minister also declared that industry in the state would get a bonanza of Rs 300 crores during the current financial year.

He was addressing the industrialists here at Guru Nanak Auditorium at the state level function organised by the Industry and Commerce Department to disburse capital subsidy worth Rs 16 crore to 221 industrial units.

Mr Badal said that his government was committed to clear this pending subsidy liability in line with the poll promise in the election manifesto. In addition, the state would spend Rs 45 core to revive the existing industrial focal points which had been lying in neglect for the past five years, he announced.

He also pointed out that the government would soon come out with a new industrial policy to provide congenial atmosphere to attract new investments. Three development boards for large, medium and small scale industry would be set up to boost industrialisation and economic activity in the state, he said.

He assured that growth of agro-based industries, textiles, light engineering goods and information technology would be the focus of the government. Besides, the state would be made power surplus within the next five year, he promised.

Speaking on the occasion, Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia assured the industrialists and entrepreneurs of investor-friendly industrial policy to usher in an era of industrialisation. He said that a dedicated fund for the development of industrial infrastructure and an authority to administer this fund would also be set up.

UNI