Shimla: Himachal Pradesh has been placed in the ‘top Achiever’ category in the Ease of Doing Business ranking released by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), GoI. In a bid, to make Himachal Pradesh as the preferred investment destination, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu instructed the department of Industries to revamp its industrial policies and facilitation mechanism for investors in the State. On his directions, a delegation of department officials consisting of Director of Industries, Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, Additional Director Industries, Tilak Raj Sharma, and EY Consultants Sh. Sumit Sagar Dogra, Navreet Singh Beling met the officials of Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion- Invest Punjab and officers of Directorate of Industries, Punjab. The CEO of Invest Punjab, Kamal Kishor Yadav, shared about the constitution of the bureau and its functioning vis-a-vis approval and clearances for investment projects in the State. He informed that the Invest Punjab has been entrusted with the responsibility to ensure a smooth transition of projects from the proposal stage to the implementation stage Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion Act, 2016 strengthened the legal constitution of the institution, and empowers the CEO of the Bureau to exercise powers of all the departments of the Government of Punjab as devolved upon it under their respective rules. It enables Invest Punjab to work as a one-stop office for providing state-level regulatory clearances and approvals for fiscal incentives and is one-of-its-kind in India owing to its dual responsibility. In the bureau, there are officers on deputation from participatory member departments that ensures timebound resolution of challenges and supports in quick grounding of investment in the State. The bureau financial budget is supported through annual grant-in aid by the State Government and management fee for the support function. Rakesh Kumar Prajapati said that inputs from Invest Punjab and other successful investment agencies in other States like Telangana, Rajasthan will be submitted to the State government for considering the formation of an investment bureau in the State.
