Driving on a highway connecting Rajasthan to Amritsar, Manpreet Singh Badal, former finance minister of Punjab, looked calm and in full control. Badal had to resign recently after making his views about the need to rationalise subsidies and cut the state debt of Rs 65,000 crore public. He would launch his political party on March 23 from Shaheed Bhagat Singh?s birthplace to signal a fresh freedom struggle against poverty, illiteracy, drug abuse and unemployment. ?The state can restore its economic might,? he says, adding: ?Punjab will either be a Japan or an Afghanistan. Punjab has never run a race in the middle. We have always run in the front.? A fan of Urdu poetry, Badal spoke to FE?s Sunny Verma on a range of issues while driving to Tarn Taran from Bathinda. Excerpts:

Why has Punjab failed in attracting industry?

When an investor comes to the state, he should be treated as a Jawai (son-in-law) but he is actually treated as a Jogi (beggar). Also, I think the Centre was a little unfair to Punjab to announce tax concessions to Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. Why should Punjab be singled out for this treatment?

What can be done to reverse industrial migration?

The state has not been able to attract investment, the tax base is not going up, job creation is not happening, agricultural productivity has reached a plateau; so the pre-requisite for Punjab now is to create industry. Obviously, we first need to create a land bank. We must create two industrial counterweight to GT road where land is less expensive near Anandpur and Bathinda.

But where do you get the money from?

Money will come in five years. But my feeling is that we stop borrowing on the revenue account and maybe even on the capital account. This debt of Rs 65,000 crore would then start looking small in the next five years because the economy will grow.

What about Sukhbir Badal?s point that debt is good for the state as it hastens progress.

I think that is a very uneducated guess. Debt is always measured as a ratio to GDP. You know, for my cook, a debt of Rs 5,000 will be huge but for me even Rs 5 lakh debt will be a small amount. Punjab?s debt-to-GDP ratio is around 40%. It should not be more than 18%. At least the non-Plan expenditure should be curbed.

Durg abuse and unemployment are other challenges destroying the youth.

They have almost destroyed the next generation. But the spirit of enterprise is not dead. What is happening is that a lot of young people are trying to get out of Punjab. You must have heard these famous tappas (folk song) that Baari Barsi Khatan Gaya Si Khat Ke Leanda Ki (that you went away for twelve years, what have you got). Almost expected of a young man in Punjab that he must go out and make a fortune.

VAT collections are rising but state revenue is still far short of expenditure.

I think we need to put systems in place. I am the only finance minister who was not the tax minister. I was only the expenditure minister. The chief minister handles taxation. What I am saying is there is a lot of pilferage of taxes and non-compliance of taxes. We need better system, transparency and compliance to collect taxes. For example, McDonalds in Ludhiana pays more VAT (Rs 2 crore) than the entire food and beverage industry in Ludhiana. So you can imagine how much pilferage is there.

You are launching your party from Khatkar Kalan next month?

A. It?s Shaheed Bhagat Singh?s birth place. I?ts very symbolic. We want to resolve that day that we will start the next freedom struggle. And the freedom is against poverty, illiteracy, drug abuse and unemployment. You know Punjab has always been a beacon of light for this nation. In my first Budget speech, I said ?Punjab will either be a Japan or an Afghanistan.? Punjab has never run a race in the middle. We have always run races in the front.

So for you its a battle of principles and not of politics?

Absolutely. You know I have been a four-time MLA and the finance minister. But history is not going to record me or even the chief minister. The greatest emperor in India was Aurangzeb and he used to call himself Alamgir– meaning the ruler of the world. Aurangzeb?s father was Khurram, who called himself Shah Jahan. Khurram?s father was Salim and he used to call himself Jahangir.

Believe me no one lights a lamp at their grave today. But people who fought for the downtrodden, for the weak? Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Shivaji Maratha, Maharana Pratap ? crores of people visit their graves and worship them. What I am trying to say is that these are very exciting times to be an Indian and to be a politician. India is growing now, every seven years, our economy would double. We feel with our mortal hands we could change the destiny of our nation.