Badal to put pressure for Central economic package

Chandigarh, June 7 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will lead an all party delegation, comprising parliamentarians to persuade the Central Government to announce an early economic package for the state and to open the Wagah-Attari and Hussainiwala borders for trade with Pakistan.

The delagtion will also comprise leading captains from trade and industry.

Mr Badal made this announcement while presiding over the award presentation function of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), Northern Region here today.

He said that he was committed to seek open trade with Pakistan which would reduce the transaction cost for the exporters and help the labour oriented industry--- hand tools, cycle parts, steel forging and auto parts etc. This would also reduce the cost factor involved in Indo-Pak trade as currently Indian goods reach Pakistan via Dubai.

The Chief Minister invited all the political parties including the Congress to close ranks and back the government efforts to secure am economic package for Punjab. A package would off set the huge disadvantages flowing from concessions to trade and industry in the neighbouring states, he pointed out.

He said that he would put all moral and political pressure on the Centre to persuade it to revert to freight equalization because Punjab was the worst hit state due to the cascading effect of this anti-trade and commerce policy.

The Chief Minister also declared that the state government would allow free sale of power generated through co-generation by entrepreneurs. He said that the government would also waive off parallel generation charges apart from drastically reducing wheeling charges on power purchase through open access system.

As many as thirty exporters from Haryana, UP, Uttrakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, J&K, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh were honoured with top exporters awards for the year 2004-05 by the Chief Minister.

UNI