Punjab Investment Summit merely a PR exercise, Majithia questions government over BMW plant claim

Punjab Investment Summit merely a PR exercise, Majithia questions government over BMW plant claim

Majithia demands CBI probe into alleged fake encounter of Ranjit Singh

Chandigarh/Sri Hargobindpur 14 March ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Senior Bikram Singh Majithia, leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal and former minister, on Friday took a sharp dig at the Punjab Investment Summit, calling it nothing more than a public relations exercise. He said this was evident from the fact that none of the industrialists who attended the summit announced any major investment in the state. Questioning Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s claim about setting up a BMW plant in Punjab, Majithia asked where exactly the plant was. Referring to industrialist Lakshmi Mittal, Majithia said Mittal spoke about the refinery named after Guru Gobind Singh, but every child in Punjab knows who actually brought that refinery to the state. He said the project was brought to Punjab in 1999 during the tenure of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and added that it remains the only refinery established in the state after Independence.

Majithia said that when the refinery project began, it was valued at around Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 45,000 crore. Since then, expansions and smaller units have been added regularly as part of normal industrial growth. He pointed out that Mittal spoke about a total investment of Rs 60,000 crore, which shows that the bulk of the investment had already come during the Badal government’s tenure, while the rest was added later. He also said that the Trident Group entered Punjab during the Badal government’s tenure. When a major dispute arose regarding land for the project in Barnala, Majithia said it was the Badal government that resolved the issue and ensured proper compensation for farmers. According to him, this clearly shows that the foundation of industrial investment in Punjab was laid during the tenure of Parkash Singh Badal.

Majithia further said that the owner of Jindal Steel spoke vaguely at the summit and only said that investment might come in the future. “The future could mean even the next hundred years,” he remarked, adding that in four years the Mann government has not been able to inaugurate even a single major industrial plant. On the contrary, Majithia claimed that the ground reality in Punjab is that shopkeepers and commission agents are receiving extortion calls. “Earlier they paid extortion to gangsters, and now they are paying a GST like extortion,” he alleged, accusing the government of issuing GST notices arbitrarily and later settling them through negotiations. He said the present law and order situation in Punjab makes new investment unlikely. “No investor will come to a place where law and order has deteriorated and security is uncertain,” he said.

Majithia also mocked the summit proceedings, saying that during the ribbon cutting ceremony, Bhagwant Mann had the ribbon cut by Arvind Kejriwal so that “his own political wire does not get cut.” He added that when Punjab is in the ICU, it is unrealistic to expect major investments. He further said that industrialists such as Abhey Oswal and Sunil Munjal are increasingly expanding their investments in other states instead of Punjab. According to Majithia, the Punjab government is relying on exaggerated claims rather than addressing real issues. He also pointed out that even dearness allowance has not been given to state employees. Majithia concluded by asking the Aam Aadmi Party government to present a clear account of the guarantees it had made to employees, entrepreneurs and youth before the 2022 Assembly elections.

Box: Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged fake encounter of Sikh youth Ranjit Singh, demanding cases against the Punjab Chief Minister, acting DGP, SSP Gurdaspur and CIA officer Gurmeet Singh. He warned that failure to expose the truth could revive memories of the militancy period of the 1990s and alleged that police officials were pressuring the victim’s family not to pursue the matter further. Majithia also said Sikh prisoners who have completed their sentences should have been released before the BJP rally in Moga, adding that communal harmony can only be ensured if law and order is properly maintained.