Punjab government on Friday said state’s monthly average of actual investments have increasing by 125 per cent in a quarter (Q) and project proposals have also gone up by 50 per cent.

An official spokesperson said Punjab’s industrial investments have received a massive boost in the first quarter of the current fiscal, with project proposals going up 50 per cent and monthly average of actual investments increasing by 125 per cent over first quarter (Q1) of financial year (FY) 2017-18.

The whopping increase has come at the back of the massive industrial push by the Amarinder Singh-led government, and the ease of business resulting from the new industrial policy, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that Punjab Bureau of Industrial Promotion (PBIP) had received 161 project proposals with a proposed investment of Rs 8644 crore from April 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

The first quarter of FY2018-19 alone had received 45 proposals (monthly average 15) with an investment of Rs.3112 crore (translating into monthly average of 1037). The figure for FY2017-18 stood at 116 (monthly average 10) at a total project cost of Rs.5532 crore (monthly average 461).

Faster grant of regulatory clearances along with support to the industry in resolving any issues related to field, land, local offices etc has been enabling early ground of the projects, said the spokesperson.

Of the project proposals received since April 2017, the maximum of 61 have come from the manufacturing sector (Rs 2946 crore), followed by Agri and Food Processing (37 projects at Rs 1977 crore), Tourism (23 at Rs 916 crore), Infrastructure (12 at Rs 738 crore), Education (nine at Rs 156 crore), IT/ITeS & ESDM (seven at Rs 150 crore), Health & Biosciences (one at Rs One crore) and others (four at Rs 59 crore).

New and Renewable Energy is another area that has witnessed significant interest, with seven project proposals Rs 1701 crore coming in during FY17-18 and FY 18-19 (Q1).

District-wise break-up of the project proposals shows Mohali (44 at Rs 1277 crore) leading, along with Ludhiana (30 projects at Rs 1485 crore). Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala and Sangrur are other top destinations favoured by industrialists, according to PBIP data.