Invest Punjab, the Government of Punjab’s investment promotion and facilitation agency has been categorized as “Top Performers” amongst 20 State Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) with an overall score of 100%, in a recently concluded State IPA ratings report, released by Invest India, under the directive of Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), in collaboration with the World Bank Group.

It was in 2017 that Invest India, under the directive of Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), initiated a nation-wide project on strategic advisory and guidance for the evolution of Indian state Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). World Bank joined the project to invest its global expertise and experience in working with national and sub-national Investment Promotion Agencies across the globe. Invest India and the World Bank team undertook visits to 21 participating states over the next six months to assess the state IPAs.

The State IPA rankings report praised Invest Punjab’s vision for growth by mentioning that, “It is noteworthy that Invest Punjab not only has a well-defined strategy in place but also a well-rounded approach to identify Priority Sectors, Priority Markets’ and Evolving sector opportunities.”

As per the final report, Invest Punjab was ranked as a Top performer for taking remarkable measures and emerging as one of the leading investment promotion agencies in India. The far-sightedness of the State IPA and its leadership for taking the steps to prove its relevance in this competitive landscape was highly appreciated. Invest Punjab has scored 100% in each of the following eight pillars against the technical grounds –

I. Mandate and Organization – Does the State IPA have a well-defined mandate and organizational structure for investment promotion?

II. Strategy and Marketing – Does the State IPA have a clearly outlined investment promotion strategy, and what marketing initiatives does it undertake?

III. Targeting Investors – Does the State IPA have a clear approach for proactively targeting potential investors?

IV. Winning Investment Projects – Does the State IPA have a process for addressing investor queries, including the provision of relevant and updated information?

V. Facilitating Investments – Does the State IPA handhold an investor and provide end-to-end facilitation support for hassle-free and timely grounding of the investment project?

VI. Aftercare – Does the State IPA provide services to investors after their initial investment, to help them grow and expand?

VII. Systems and Infrastructure – Does the State IPA have well-defined systems and proper infrastructure to support its internal working mechanisms?

VIII. Website – Does the State IPA provide up-to-date relevant information about the investment climate in the state to investors?

This recognition as a Top Performer IPA and 100% score on all eight pillar vouch for the efficiency and proactive approach of Invest Punjab and how the institution has succeeded in building a trusted relationship with investors and industry from all across the world. Over the past few years, Invest Punjab has undertaken many institutional, systemic and technological reforms to ensure ease of business throughout the investment lifecycle of the investor.

This ranking speaks volumes about the industrial and investment ecosystem in Punjab. The state has already attracted meaningful investments to the tune of INR 70,000 Cr in last four years. A significant number of these projects have started operations viz. M/s Think Gas (HQ Singapore) INR 2000 Cr., M/s Pepsico Ltd. (HQ USA) INR 100 cr., M/s Varun Beverages Ltd.  INR 800 crore, IOL Chemicals Ltd. INR 235 crores, M/s Godrej Tyson Foods (HQ USA), M/s Graepels Perforations Pvt Ltd (HQ Germany), M/s Sunjin India P Ltd (HQ South Korea), M/s Hindustan Unilever Ltd., M/s HPL Additives Ltd., M/s Isckon Balaji Foods Pvt Ltd and many others. Also, many others like M/s CN IFFCO (joint venture with Spanish firm Congelados de Navarra) INR 550+ crore, M/s Happy Forgings Ltd.  (INR 525 crore), M/s HMEL Refinery Limited (INR 21991 crore) are in the construction phase of their projects.

Invest Punjab’s initiatives to connect with NRIs/NRPs also drew praise from Invest India. Invest Punjab has been connecting with NRIs/NRPs through Indian Embassies as well as Punjab NRI Sabha and other such organizations to engage with and share newsletters, latest policy and EODB initiatives, investible projects and latest announcements from the state government. The ‘NRI Connect’ feature on the Invest Punjab web portal offers services such as facilitating investment projects of Punjabi diaspora, procedural guidance, advice on taxation, etc. The report also recommends Invest Punjab to benchmark itself with the best-in-class globally, as well as domestically, and work towards continuously improving its functioning, and enhancing its service offering to the investor community.

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