Mohali to be electronics hub: Sukhbir

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 29

Apparently buoyed by Videocon’s announcement of setting up its manufacturing plant here, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal did not take much time to announce Mohali as the “upcoming electronics manufacturing hub” here today.

During his address at the valedictory function of the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit at the Indian School of Business at Sector 81 here, Sukhbir said Mohali, the IT hub of Punjab, would be made the electronics manufacturing hub of the state.

He said Videocon had signed an MoU with the Punjab Government for setting up a plant worth Rs 500 crore for manufacturing/assembling mobile phone sets and set-top boxes in Mohali.

“We will talk to other industrialists to bring them here and make Mohali the electronics manufacturing hub of the state,” he said.

Mohali was an electronics manufacturing hub around two decades ago as a number of big industries such as Punwire, Fujitsu, JCT, Node, ESPL, Punjab Recorders, Semi Conductor Limited and Punjab Communications Ltd were running their business from here.

“However, most of them have shut shop here. In the name of big companies, only SCL and PCL are running their business from here,” said Anurag Aggarwal, former president of the Mohali Industries Association.

“It’s good if the government wants to revive electronics business here. Special attention is required if the government wants to make Mohali an electronics manufacturing hub again,” said Aggarwal.

Mohali gets the lion’s share of investments

By getting a Rs 500 crore manufacturing unit of Videocon, a five-star hotel of the JLPL group, Kings College, London, back office of the HDFC for all operations in the region, a top healthcare centre and other investments in the IT sector worth several hundred crores, Mohali has become one of the top beneficiaries of the total investment announced during the summit.

Under the housing and urban head, five real estate companies have signed an MoU for investment of around Rs 22,000 crore. “Most of the investments under this head will be made in Mohali,” said a senior Punjab Government official.

Similarly, the lion’s share of the investments under the heads of IT and telecom (around Rs 5,000 crore) and health (around Rs 6,700 crore) according to the MoU signed by various companies for their upcoming projects would be for Mohali. 

Mohali DC Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said Mohali would be one of the top beneficiaries due to its strategic location, international airport, environment and infrastructure. “We have Medicity, Educity and the IT sector here. Our road infrastructure is good and so it’s the natural choice of every investor in the business,” said Sidhu. 

JLPL chairperson and Mohali Mayor Kulwant Singh, who has signed an MoU to invest Rs 4,500 crore, said nearly 90 per cent of the real estate projects of companies were meant for Mohali.