Punjab leads the nation in infrastructure. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) infrastructure index gives Punjab a rating of 191 – highest in the country. Even the most industrially developed State of Maharashtra figures at a low level of 111 only, against the national average of 100.


Power:
Highest per capita generation in the country, which is 2.5 times the national average. Quality power without power cuts is available at cheaper rates. Future planned projects ensure easy availability. Concessional tariff for night loads has been introduced in the state. Punjab has surplus electricity and industry gets electric connections without any delay subject to system constraints. The quality of power is also far better than any state in the Northern India and the tariff is one of the lowest. The generation of power continues to get priority treatment from the state. All 12,484 villages in Punjab have been electrified since 1974.

Communications:
Telephone and Allied facilities are available to all cities and small towns. It is possible to directly dial for International calls from a large number of villages also.

Banks:
There are 2,478 branches of scheduled commercial banks in Punjab. The state is also served by a network of 635 branches of the Punjab State Cooperative Bank. On an average, each branch services a population of 9,414, an area of 24 square kilometers or a cluster of five villages.


Health Services
There are 230 allopathic (western medical system) and six ayurvedic (Indian medical system) hospitals (one 105 bed hospital at Patiala and five 10 bed hospital at jalandhar, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar) and one Homeopathic hospital in the state. They range from 50-bed hospitals in smaller towns to larger hospitals attached with the five medical colleges - one each at Patiala, Faridkot and Amritsar and two at Ludhiana having facilities for
dealing with complicated cases and acting as referral hospitals and teaching colleges. The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research at Chandigarh has facilities equal to the best available in any metropolis. Private medical facilities are also reliable and are available even in the semi-urban and rural areas of the state. At the level below the district one finds smaller hospitals: there are 1,450 allopathic, 473 Ayurvedic,Dispensaries, 17 ayurvedic Swasth Kendras and 34 Unani (Arab/Persian medical system) and 105 homeopathic dispensaries. In addition the state has 446 Primary Health Centers and 105Community Health Centres. There is one doctor for every 1,589 of the population and one hospital bed for every 864 people - ratios which are probably the best in the country.

About 76 per cent of the villages have protected drinking water supply.

Life expectancy for men and women is 66.6 years which is second highest in the country. All these factors add up to a healthy hardworking population.