Welcoming the JK Group on its maiden project in Punjab, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh handed over a letter to the company on 4 August 2021, allotting 17 acres of land at a cost of around Rs. 40 crore in the Hi-Tech Valley at Ludhiana. The Group’s JK Papers is already a leading manufacturer in the country of a variety of printing and packaging papers and it plans to set up a corrugated packaging paper (liner paper) manufacturing unit in Cycle Valley near Ludhiana.
According to news reports, this is the second big group entering Punjab with sizeable investment plans within the past fortnight. The Aditya Birla Group has recently bought land for two projects in the state with a planned investment of Rs 1500 crore in the state. The chief minister assured the JK Group of his government’s total support in setting up the plant and its smooth commercial operations.
The chief minister said his state’s pro-investor industrial policy and incentives, are making it one of the preferred investment destinations in the country. ‘Invest Punjab’ a one-stop shop, has apparently facilitated investments of Rs 91,000 crore in over 2900 project proposals in the past four years. He added that of these nearly 50% of the project had started commercial production, expressing satisfaction that the state had attracted and retained investment even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The JK Group’s new unit in Punjab will initially procure waste paper and supply finished goods, which is corrugated packaging paper also known as unbleached liner, to industries in Punjab and the neighboring states to make corrugated board and cartons. By strengthening the waste paper industry ecosystem in the state, it will help Punjab achieve some of its sustainability goals. The project will local manufacturers in sourcing their packaging materials and it is hoped that a large proportion of the plants production will be consumed in the state, enhancing its GST revenue collection.
Rajat Aggarwal the CEO of Invest Punjab, said that the Hi-Tech valley at Ludhiana provides quality ‘Plug and Play’ infrastructure to potential investors, attracting investments from industry players, such as Hero Cycles, Aditya Birla Group, and JK Paper. Hero Cycles has already set up their anchor unit in the Valley with a production capacity of 4 million bicycles per year, especially eBikes and premium bikes.
JK Paper is planning to construct its plant and go into production within a year. The states investment promotion and facilitation arm, Invest India has been recently rated as the Top Performing Agency by the Government of India.
The vice-chairman and managing director of JK Paper, Harsh Pati Singhania was full of praise for Punjab’s industrial ecosystem, and the state’s forward-looking industrial policies. He said the state’s pro-business environment, motivated the company’s decision to invest in the state.
Chaitanya Hari Singhania, head of the Dairy and Foods Business of the JK Group, accompanied the company’s team at the meeting with the chief minister. Looking at the prospects for improving the welfare of the farming community, Captain Singh invited Chaitanya Singhania to also explore the investment opportunities in the dairy and foods processing and manufacturing sector in the state which has one of the few functioning Mega Food Parks in the country.
