IT giants to set up base in Punjab in next 18 months: Sukhbir

, Feb 17:

would be flooded with numerous

companies of international repute in the next 18 months, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said today.

"In the next one to one-and-half years, top IT companies will be in Punjab," he told reporters here on the sidelines of a function during, which he handed over letters for allotment of plots to 27 companies, including Infosys.

He said several companies of international repute had evinced interest to come to Punjab, adding that these companies had been allotted plots in Mohali with a price ranging from Rs 3-5 crore per acre.

"Out of the 27 companies which were allotted plots today, 50 per cent are of international repute," he added.

He said Mohali will soon become an "IT hub", adding that with the coming up of IT companies in Mohali some 30,000 youths from the state will get employment. Mohali will be set up as an IT city in the next three years, he said, adding that the government would allot about 1,500 acres of land to these companies to set up their units in Mohali on the periphery of Chandigarh.

"Mohali will become number one planned IT hub of the country," he said, adding that this would give economic boost to the state, especially Mohali. Sukhbir said the plots allotted to the companies will be on lease for a period of three years.

"The state government will monitor the progress of the companies on these plots on a regular basis," he added. Infosys will lay the foundation stone of its campus at Mohali on February 22, he said.

Besides, Medicity is coming up at Mullanpur in Mohali district, he said, adding that it would comprise chain of top hospital companies. He said an education city too will be set up at Mullanpur where an international university from California will set up its campus. He said the state government will also set up IT malls for accommodating small companies by providing them spaces in these buildings.

Sukhbir said in the next one year every village of Punjab will be connected with 4G connectivity. "In the next three years there will be a drastic change in the state ... its not a political statement which I am making," he added.

PTI