SRINAGAR: Just months after cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan’s Ceylon Beverages Can Pvt Ltd withdrew its Rs 1,650-crore investment plan in Jammu and Kashmir, two more major companies—solar giant Grew Energy Pvt Ltd and textile leader RSWM Limited, have decided to pull out of their proposed projects in the Union Territory, dealing a serious blow to its industrialisation drive, Daily Excelsior has reported.
According to Daily Excelsior, official sources said that Grew Energy Pvt Ltd, one of India’s fastest-growing solar manufacturing firms, and RSWM Limited, the flagship company of the LNJ Bhilwara Group, have formally applied for the cancellation of land allotted to them at the Bagthali Industrial Estate in Kathua district.
Grew Energy had been allotted two parcels of land—222 kanals for Unit-I and 434 kanals for Unit-II—last March, following the 5th meeting of the Apex Level Land Allotment Committee on February 2, 2024. The land was leased for 40 years for the manufacturing of solar wafers, ingots, and solar cells.
During the project’s groundbreaking ceremony, the company had announced an integrated solar manufacturing unit worth Rs 4,500 crore, projected to produce 3.2 GW of high-efficiency modules and 2.8 GW of wafers and cells annually. The plant was expected to serve the solar energy needs of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and neighbouring states while significantly boosting the local economy.
Similarly, RSWM Limited had been allotted 275 kanals of land in the same industrial estate to establish a textile manufacturing unit.
However, as the Daily Excelsior reported, both companies have now approached the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCO) seeking cancellation of their allotments, citing the withdrawal of subsidies and incentives as the main reason. “These groups think that in the absence of incentives, it would not be prudent for them to make such massive investments,” the newspaper quoted sources as saying.
Muralitharan’s Ceylon Beverages had earlier backed out of its Rs 1,650-crore project in Kathua for similar reasons, following the expiry of incentives under the National Sector Industrial Policy 2021 in September last year. The policy has not been extended, and the incentives currently available from the Union Territory government are reportedly “not sufficient enough” to attract or sustain major investors.
“The applications of Grew Energy and RSWM Limited are being processed as per procedure,” Daily Excelsior quoted officials as saying, adding that under the lease deed terms, 20 per cent of the premium paid will be forfeited if the cancellation is approved.
Officials further told Daily Excelsior that the decision of these two industrial giants marks a major setback for Jammu and Kashmir’s vision of becoming a manufacturing hub. “Had timely incentives and subsidies been announced by the Government of India, these companies would have already started work on the ground. Moreover, the projects were expected to create employment for hundreds of locals,” sources said.
