HARYANA is all set to draw huge investments in the auto sector. In the last 45 days, the Haryana government has attracted investments close to Rs 1,000 crore in the sector, giving tough competition to its arch rival Punjab. ET had reported on August 14 about JCB India Limited’s plan to invest Rs 500 crore in the state. This time it is NRI tycoon Lord Swaraj Paul of Caparo Group, who is ready to invest Rs 500 crore in Haryana. Punjab, however, is in no mood to give up. The fact that Mr Swaraj Paul is also keen to invest in his home state (Mr paul is Jalandhar-born), has given it hope. Punjab chief minister Mr Prakash Singh Badal’s was to meet Mr Paul in Delhi on Sunday evening and it may yield some results on the state’s behalf. Hinting at the fact that Punjab does not have any major automobile company for his company to supply auto components, Lord Paul says, “I am ready to invest in Punjab provided some major automobile company comes here. The reasons for choosing Haryana are obvious. The total investment will be over Rs 500 crore and will hire over 2,000 people to run two stamping plants.” The Caparo Group has acquired 100 acres of land at Bawal in Haryana, about 70 kms from Gurgaon, for the development of six new engineering plants. These plants will support the growth of auto companies including Honda Cars, Honda Scooters and Motor Cycles, Hero Honda, Swaraj Mazda and New Holland Tractors. It will also be developing facilities for supply braking and suspension systems which would support OEMs. In India, Caparo Group is plans to manufacture components of automotive that include forgings, tubing and tubular components, pressings, fasteners and aluminium castings. The company had also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu government to invest $68 million in manufacturing auto parts. A month back it was JCB India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of JCB Excavator (UK) — one of the top five construction and earth-moving equipment manufacturers in the world — that had announced expansions worth Rs 500 crore at its existing manufacturing facility at Ballabgarh in Haryana JCB Worldwide’s group COO Mr Matthew Taylor had told ET, “We would like to have largest manufacturing facility in Haryana (Ballabgarh) only.”