Punjab Government on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with QuarkCity India Private Limited to create state-of-the-art industrial parks, industrial model towns and integrated townships in the second phase of the project, to be spread over 5,000 acres across the state.

The MoU was signed by the Department of Information Technology in the presence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and several cabinet ministers.

Capt Amarinder congratulated Quarkcity Mohali chairman Fred Ebrahimi for choosing to expand his QuarkCity project to catalyse further industrial and economic activity across the state, besides creating enormous job potential for the youth.

Responding to a suggestion, the Chief Minister directed the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion to regularly monitor the progress of pending applications of industrialists who were keen to set up their ventures in the state, in order to facilitate their early implementation.

The second phase of Quarkcity project would be meticulously designed to distribute the covered area for industrial, residential and commercial use, including public utilities, amenities and common infrastructure, said an official spokesperson.

Of the total area, 10 percent of land would be earmarked for creating infrastructure for educational facilities, and 30 percent of the covered area would be reserved for industrial use, and another 25 percent for hotels, integrated multiplexes, malls and convention centres.

Under the MoU, the scope of work would include acquiring of land, development of infrastructure towards creation of Industrial parks in Rajpura, Kharar and Fatehgarh Sahib in a time-bound manner.

Thanking the Chief Minister for his government's support for the project, Fred Ebrahimi said that the reforms initiated under the leadership of Capt Amarinder were now fructifying into massive investments.

Notably, in an agreement signed with Punjab Government in July 2017, immediately after the incumbent government had taken over, Quarkcity had undertaken to develop an IT park over 51 acres in Mohali.