With New Industrial Policy, Article 370 abrogation, J&K gears up for big biz

Principal Secretary (Industries and Commerce) to the Jammu and Kashmir administration, Ranjan Prakash Thakur, said four major industrialists, including steel giant Jindal Steel, have signed up for investments in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

Srinagar: Two years after the abrogation of Article 370 and implementation of New Industrial Policy in Jammu and Kashmir, several industrialists have been approaching the government for investment. Officials said investors have shown keen interest and investments worth nearly Rs nearly 30, 000 crore has been envisaged for Jammu and Kashmir. The areas of investments include telecom, hospitality, healthcare, information technology, tourism, pharmaceuticals, food processing and education.

The government under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 unlocked the transfer of land in the Union Territory to outsider industrialists. With Article 370 in place, land in Jammu and Kashmir could only be leased for a period of 99 years. The administration said this was a major roadblock in the development of private sector and outside investment in the erstwhile state. The BJP government said the roadblock has been cleared with the abrogation of the Article.

Principal Secretary (Industries and Commerce) to the Jammu and Kashmir administration, Ranjan Prakash Thakur, said four major industrialists, including steel giant Jindal Steel, have signed up for investments in Jammu and Kashmir so far.

For now, the government has identified seven districts -- Jammu, Kathua, and Samba districts in the Jammu region and Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama and Shopian in the Valley -- for setting up businesses. Jindal Steel has been alloted land at the Lassipora industrial Estate in Pulwama.

The government has said 6,000 kanals of land will be earmarked to create a land bank, which will be alloted to private industrialists to establish factories and business units.

Thakur said so far Rs 23,000 crore worth investment has been signed -- Rs 11,000 crore will be invested in Kashmir and Rs 12,000 crore in Jammu region. He said investors have paid money for land, registered their businesses on the department's website and uploaded Detailed Project Reports. "We are expecting an investment of Rs 50,000 crore by the end of this financial year," he said.

The L-G administration had planned a major 'Global Business Summit' in Kashmir in year 2019 but was delayed due to Covid-19.