Difficult to link Rs 55,000cr investment proposals to official visits: Arora

Chandigarh: Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora on Sunday said the state received record investment proposals worth over Rs 55,000 crore between April 2025 and Feb 2026, but it was difficult to ascertain which of these were directly linked to the state leadership's national or international visits. Arora responded to a question by Congress MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa during question hour in the Punjab assembly.Bajwa, the MLA from Fatehgarh Churian, had asked about the outcome of agreements signed during the chef minister's foreign visits to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) and sought details of investments materialised so far. Arora said the CM's official visits focused on structured interactions with industry leaders, business associations, and potential investors to showcase Punjab's industrial strengths and policy framework. "These discussions generally have a long gestation period before they reach the implementation stage. Conversion of such engagements into actual investments is a phased process that requires regulatory clearances and due diligence," he added.He said the state govt, through Invest Punjab, regularly followed up with potential investors and facilitated the process to ensure proposals translated into projects on the ground. Arora claimed that the investment figures for 2025–26 were "double" those recorded in the previous year.When Bajwa asked about sector-wise investment details, Arora said the question submitted did not seek that information. He assured the assembly that the details would be shared separately with the MLA.Govt rejects claims on rising female cancer deaths Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh, replying to concerns raised by Banga MLA Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi regarding rising female cancer mortality and inadequate preventive healthcare infrastructure in the state, said data quoted by Sukhi was not shared by the Punjab health department with the Centre, and its source was unknown to the govt. Sukhi stated in the question that an average of eight women were dying of cancer every day in Punjab and cited figures suggesting 13,299 female cancer deaths between 2021 and 2025. He asked why the state failed to curb a 56% mortality rate linked to breast cancer. Citing the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) report for 2020, Balbir Singh said female cancer mortality in Punjab stood at 1,451 cases, ranking the state 16th among 28 states.He added the truncated mortality rate for females due to cancer in Punjab was 55.5 per lakh, placing the state 17th among 28 states. The minister also referred to data from the Homi Bhabha Population Based Cancer Registry for Sangrur and Mansa districts between 2021 and 2024. In Sangrur, 2,218 female cancer deaths were recorded during the period, including 485 deaths due to breast cancer, translating to roughly 0.3 deaths per day, he said. He added that in Mansa, 1,670 female cancer deaths were reported, including 171 due to breast cancer, or about 0.1 deaths per day. Balbir Singh maintained that the state govt did not report any data indicating a 56% mortality rate from breast cancer. He added that Punjab was implementing the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) to strengthen cancer prevention and control efforts. Hospital parking violations in Mohali AAP MLA from Mohali Kulwant Singh raised the issue of private hospitals allegedly violating building bylaws by using parking spaces for commercial purposes, leading to traffic congestion. Housing and urban development minister Hardip Singh Mundian informed the assembly that show-cause notices were issued to the hospitals. Kulwant Singh pointed out that he raised the same issue in 2024 and asked about progress since the notices were issued. Mundian responded that action would be taken as per rules and parking issues would be resolved within two-three months. Status of playground projects in Payal AAP MLA Manwinder Singh Giaspura sought an update on 31 sanctioned playgrounds in Payal constituency. In response, tourism, culture affairs, labour, and rural development minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond said the projects were at different stages of progress ranging from 5% to 80% completion. As per the written reply, work did not start at one location, while another playground site was shifted to a different village. Giaspura also questioned why multiple projects were awarded to a single contractor and noted that the contractor was earlier fined for delays in Khanna. "You are not the minister of Khanna alone but of the entire Punjab," he told Sond.Forest cover and plantation drive Responding to a question by Congress MLA Avtar Singh Junior, forest and wildlife preservation minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said according to the India State of Forest Report 2023, Punjab's forest cover was 1,846.09 sq km, accounting for 3.67% of the state's geographical area. To increase this, the department carried out plantation on 17,089 hectares under various schemes in the last four years, he said. Junior pointed out that the increase in forest cover was only about 0.003%, arguing that environmental commitments often fall short at the implementation stage. Kataruchak, while responding to another query of Junior, said a statewide plantation drive during the 550th Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev took place, under which 550 saplings were planted in every village.