PHD Chamber welcomes Punjab Budget

Chandigarh, March 18, 2015: Welcoming the 5 percent increase in the Annual Plan outlay for next year being fixed at Rs 21,174 crore over the last year, Rajiv Bali, Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that it would go a long way in furthering the development of infrastructure in power, roads, rural water supply and sanitation, health and education, as asserted by Punjab Finance Minister, Parminder Singh Dhindsa in his Budget speech.

Hailing the launch of Entrepreneurship Development Programme for five years, with an outlay of Rs 100 Crore, Bali, said that the interest subvention at the rate of 3% on loan taken to set up a micro or small enterprise with investment of up to Rs 5 Crore, shall encourage the entrepreneurs to set up their own enterprises and become self reliant besides providing avenues for employment generation.

Welcoming an outlay of Rs 200 crore in the dedicated State Skill Development Mission, R S Sachdeva, Co-Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHD Chamber said the proposed 22 Multi Skill Development Centers at State, District and Block levels besides setting up of 3 specialised skill development centres would go a long way in enhancing the skills of youth and empower them with the right skills in tune with the industry requirements.

Dalip Sharma, Regional Director, PHD Chamber hailed the provision for Special purpose vehicle for maintenance of PSEIC focal points, which he said would catalyse the improvement of infrastructure in general.

On the proposed governance reforms, Sharma said, a dedicated allocation for the single window system for services to industry could have been included in the budget besides E-seva kendras to be setup at convenient locations across state and integrated workflow and document management system and other proposals.

Power being a major concern for the industry, the announcement for timely completion of the 3 ongoing thermal projects leading Punjab to be self-sufficient is a welcome step, which would assure quality power to the industry and give a boost to the sagging industry in the state, said Sharma. However, added Sharma, "The speedy implementation of the projects is important." / (SK Vyas, Jalandhar)