In Chandigarh to participate in the Punjabi NRI Sammelan, which ended today, Grewal told mediapersons that to begin with, the group of NRIs of which he is a part, would send a team of experts from the UK to study and recommend social projects in which they can make a contribution. On top of his priority list is setting up water treatment plants to provide clean drinking water to the people of the Malwa belt.

He said plans have been finalised to launch clean water schemes very shortly in certain villages of Malwa belt of Sangrur, Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozepur districts. "We will be setting up these treatment plants with the help of local NGOs, and of course the assistance of the Punjab government as per its policy of offering matching grants," he said.

He said it had been his ambition to invest in his village in some relevant projects. "The grim drinking water scenario in Punjab offers ample room for well-resourced NRIs to invest socially and responsibly," Grewal said. He also disclosed that he had approached the Punjab government for setting up a sports academy in the UK in which talented, young sportspersons from Punjab would be given training.

Grewal, who claimed to have already worked out most of the modalities of the academy, said he would select the talented sportspersons and take them to the UK for a year of professional and advanced training from foreign coaches in various sporting disciplines. "Having been a sportsperson, I take it as my duty to give back to my home state and our next generation of sportspersons the facilities which we never had as young sportsmen," he added.