Honorable Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Bhagwant Mann Singh ji, respected Arvind Kejriwal ji, all the honorable ministers present on stage, my colleagues from the industry, and all the leaders and guests, ladies and gentlemen, Sat Sri Akal. Today I am in Punjab and it makes me very happy to see the progress that Punjab is making. I belong to Haryana, from Hisar, which was earlier part of Punjab, and I will tell you a small story. When Hisar was part of Punjab, my father wanted to set up an industry there. He was in Kolkata and said, 'I don't feel like staying in Kolkata, I want to go back to Hisar.' So he came and met Sardar Pratap Singh Kairon ji, who was the Chief Minister of Punjab at that time. Kairon sahab told him, 'Jindal sahab, you set up a plant in Punjab.' Since it was united Punjab, my dad said, 'Sir, I want to set it up in Hisar.' He said, 'Absolutely, set it up in Hisar, and I will come myself to lay the foundation stone.' I am talking about the late 60s, actually early 60s. Sardar Kairon sahab laid the foundation stone there and also inaugurated it. That was our first plant in the early 60s, in '61 or '62. After that, my father never looked back, and we grew Hisar a lot, and the whole of Hisar became an industrial town. Otherwise, if I talk about steel in Punjab, as Narendra said, Punjab has always been in a steel country. Mandi Gobindgarh – when we were children, we used to hear that Mandi Gobindgarh used to decide what the price of steel would be the next day. The price used to come from Mandi Gobindgarh, which had no iron ore belt, no coal, no scrap. But still, Mandi Gobindgarh was the leader in deciding what the price of steel would be. Because the people of Punjab decided what the steel price would be in India, whether in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, or anywhere else. Later on, the industry developed and became more integrated and went to places where the mines were, and that's how steel became a nationwide industry. But still, Ludhiana reminds me of all the engineering marvels that happened at that time. I am talking about early 60s, 70s – everything used to happen in Ludhiana. Whether it was the lathe machines manufactured in Ludhiana, all the 'jugaad' – the world's jugaad came from Punjab. So when I tell back home in South India, where I have most of my industries, that 'jugaad' is a word which means managing technology. But in today's world, it's AI, new technology, machine learning – all that was done through jugaad at that time. It is an innovation that we Punjabis did at that time. And I remember when I was a kid, I also made a small car when I was 12 years old, as a jugaad. I used a pump, put a diesel pump, and made a small car, and I did a parade on 26th January. So I remember that is our quality as a Punjabi, because I also believe that I am a Punjabi, and because that is in our blood – that innovative strength that we have. And of course, Punjab is known for its hosiery, its textiles, its small-scale industry, its bicycle production which is the world's largest. So I don't think I need to tell Punjabis about what Punjab is about. Punjab is not only agriculture. Today, if I am sitting in Mumbai, everybody thinks Punjab is agriculture. But actually, Punjab is far advanced in industry than any other state in India. And I am so happy that the honorable Chief Minister is now bringing this industrial culture back into Punjab. And Arora sahab was in Mumbai in my office, and after we had a very interesting discussion about Punjab's industrial growth and what needs to be done in Punjab, how to do it, what JSW Group needs to do, then everything was discussed. Tea etc. was had. Everyone left. When we were leaving, he told me, 'Don't do like the Mumbai people, saying yes yes and not coming. You have to come to Punjab.' I said, 'Sir, I will definitely come.' So that's why I have come all the way to attend this meeting and to meet all of you. So I would like to thank Arora ji for inviting me here today. As far as JSW Group is concerned, we have a very nice, cute plant here in Rajpura where we manufacture tin plate, galvanized steel, and coated steel, which is then supplied in this area only. We are not re-exporting it outside; it goes northward – Punjab, Himachal, Kashmir, Jammu – it feeds this area. And now we have a huge plan to expand that facility. We want to invest close to ₹3000 crore to build this massive color-coated and tin plate complex to feed this part, because I believe that India has a huge future, tremendous opportunity within our country. Our people are very enterprising. And just as Punjab is so strong in agriculture, these tin plate boxes – whether it is tomato ketchup, whether it is juices – will get filled. So the demand for tin plate is just growing. So that's what we are working on to build this capacity. Whatever capacity we have installed in steel in our country over the last 25 years, it falls short. By the time it becomes operational, it is already short. So we are now planning a much larger capacity wherever we are doing it, because India is growing so rapidly. Today our economy is $4.5 trillion. In the next 15 years, we will become a $20 trillion economy. So we will be the world's third largest – of course, we will become that in the next 2 years. But we will grow so multifold that our capacity in everything will fall short. So that's why JSW Group is growing steel very rapidly here. In defense, we are setting up in Chandigarh – we have a very nice plant where we manufacture these amphibious vehicles which we are supplying to the defense. Recently, when there were floods in Punjab, our CEO, Mr. Jaskirat Singh ji, approached the Chief Secretary and the honorable Chief Minister, and then those vehicles went to save so many people – the newborn, the pregnant women – they were evacuated from the flood-affected areas. So these vehicles were used even for civilian purposes. So this is what the new projects are doing. So I would like to assure the Chief Minister ji that in Punjab, whatever industrial development is happening, the industrial renaissance that is about to happen, because of which Punjab will again be known as the leading state of India as far as industry is concerned, not only in MSME, which it already is today, but even in other areas, in large industries. Tata Steel is already building a very large steel plant here which is recycling scrap. We are building our own downstream various facilities, large large investments. So we want to be progress partners of Punjab. We want to work with Punjab for its progress, because Punjab is my home. So I will do whatever I can for the progress of my home, and I will do it. And one very beautiful thing about Punjab is what is called 'Chadhti Kala' – rising spirit. I like that very much. In every speech, I talk about Chadhti Kala, and it means moving forward, expanding our thinking, expanding our mind. So in everything, we talk about Chadhti Kala, and wherever we go, we feel very good about Punjab. Whenever I go outside, I feel Punjabi myself. So I talk about Punjab and Haryana and how we have grown, how the states are leading the whole country. So this is what I feel. And with this belief and this spirit, I have come to Punjab today. And today, our India story, the growth story that we tell the whole world – Laxminivas ji will tell you all about what India's role has been in the world, how they have made India's name shine in steel across the world. So I was talking about Punjab's contribution to that story. With this, I thank you very much. Sat Sri Akal, Jai Hind.
