Welcoming the JK Group on its maiden foray into the State with a planned investment of Rs.150 crore, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday handed over a letter allotting 17 acres of land at a cost of around Rs. 40 crore in the Hi-Tech Valley at Ludhiana.The Group plans to set up a corrugated packaging paper manufacturing unit in the Cycle Valley.This is the second big group entering Punjab with sizeable investment plans within a fortnight. Recently, Aditya Birla Group had purchased land and finalised two projects with an investment of Rs. 1500 crore in the state.The Chief Minister assured the JK Group of his government’s total support in the venture, and expressed the hope for more investments in the future. He furtherassured the group of complete cooperated from his government in setting up their unit and also during commercial operations of the project.Punjab, due to its pro-investor industrial policy and lucrative incentives, has now emerged as the most preferred investment destination in the country, the Chief Minister said. ‘Invest Punjab’, as a one-stop shop, has seamlessly facilitated investments worth Rs.91,000 crore in over 2900 project proposals received by the state in the past four years, he said, adding that of these nearly 50% had already started commercial production. He expressed the satisfaction over the State successfully attracting and retaining significant investments even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Group’s unit will initially procure raw material, which is waste paper, from different parts of the country and supply finished goods, which is corrugated packaging paper, to industries in Punjab and other neighbouring states. It will also provide a fillip to the waste paper industry ecosystem in the State, helping Punjab achieve its sustainability goals. The presence of this unit in the State will help the local industries in sourcing their packaging material from within the State which will enhance their cost competitiveness. Further, the majority of the production will be consumed in the State, which will help boost the State’s GST revenue.CEO Invest Punjab, Rajat Aggarwal, elaborated on the State’s investment promotion agency ‘INVEST PUNJAB’, which has been recently rated as the ‘Top Performing Agency’ by the Government of India. He further said that the Hi-Tech valley at Ludhiana provides a high quality ‘Plug and Play’ infrastructure to potential investors and, therefore, has attracted investments from prominent industry players, such as Hero Cycles, Aditya Birla Group, and JK Paper Ltd. Hero Cycles Limited has already set up their anchor unit in the Valley with a production capacity of 4 million bicycles per year, especially e-bikes and premium bikes. JK Paper Limited is also looking forward to start construction of its proposed plant at the earliest and commence commercial production within one year, added Aggarwal. Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director of JK Paper Ltd. Harsh Pati Singhania lauded Punjab’s industrial ecosystem, forward-looking industrial policies and conducive business environment, which motivated their decision to invest in the State.Chaitanya Hari Singhania, son of Harsh Pati Singhania and head of the Dairy and Foods Business of JK Organisation, also accompanied the delegation at the meeting. Looking at the prospects for the welfare of the farming community in the State, the Chief Minister invited Chaitanya to explore investment opportunities in Dairy and Foods Sector in the State.The event was attended by senior officers, including Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary to CM Mr. Tejveer Singh, Principal Secretary Investment Promotion Hussan Lal, Advisor Investment Promotion Maj BS Kohli and Managing Director Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation Neelima, among others.