‘If Punjab stops producing wheat, the world economy will collapse. The centre does not realise this...they are not supporting us’
Maneesh Chhibber: State elections are due next year in Punjab, can you tell us what your achievements are in this term?
We formed the government four years ago. We were very focused, we wanted to remove the weaknesses and strengthen the positive aspects of our state. Our weaknesses are that we are a landlocked state, surrounded by Pakistan and the troubled state of J&K. Also, other states around us receive incentives from the centre. We are an island nobody wants to come to. So we have focused on ways to attract people to our state, and hence, reduce our weaknesses. A landlocked state can develop only if it’s connected with a port. During my father’s last term as CM, we got Amritsar International Airport operational. This time, we got Mohali International Airport cleared, and another at Machhiwara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines. We got Bathinda airport cleared, and flights from Pathankot and Ludhiana became operational. Punjab is now among the most well-connected states in the country.
Our second weakness was power shortage. Punjab’s production capacity was 5,000 MW and the demand was 9,000 MW. In the last four years, we have added over 10,000 MW. The third step
