SRINAGAR: The Association of Integrated Textile and Handicraft Park (AITHP), Zakura, has welcomed the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Ease of Doing Business Act, 2026, calling for the early notification of rules and guidelines to translate the legislation into tangible relief for entrepreneurs.
At a meeting of its Advisory Committee convened to discuss the legislation and the debate surrounding it, the Association expressed gratitude to the Omar Abdullah-led government for initiating reforms aimed at reducing unnecessary compliances and bureaucratic controls. It said the success of the legislation would depend on its implementation and the extent to which it changes the experience of businesses dealing with government departments.
The Association said the removal of redundant No Objection Certificates (NOCs), repeated clearances and overlapping compliances was essential to allow entrepreneurs to concentrate on production, employment, financing, taxation and marketing rather than spend time pursuing official permissions.
“How can enterprises flourish when their owners spend more time pursuing files and permissions than managing and expanding their businesses?” members asked.
The committee said concerns relating to ecology, the environment, public safety and planned development were legitimate and must be respected. However, it maintained that these safeguards should not become grounds for resisting regulatory reforms. The industrial fraternity, it said, had neither sought nor supported any relaxation that compromised these protections.
The Association also expressed concern that regulatory simplification measures introduced elsewhere in the country years ago had not adequately reached Jammu and Kashmir. It attributed the delay, in part, to an administrative culture that continued to exercise excessive discretionary control over entrepreneurs instead of facilitating business activity.
Speaking at the meeting, AITHP president Syed Afaq Qadiri said the Act should be seen as the beginning of wider economic reforms and considered alongside the proposed New Industrial Policy, which he said was understood to be in the final stages of approval.
He stressed that the forthcoming policy should give due priority to existing enterprises that had endured more than three decades of disruptions, natural calamities, economic uncertainty and inadequate institutional support.
“The EoDB Act seeks to free entrepreneurs from unnecessary bureaucratic controls, while the New Industrial Policy must provide the economic support necessary for their revival, sustainability and growth. Their real success will depend on implementation,” Qadiri said.
He said the legislation addressed longstanding demands of apex industrial organisations for transparent, predictable and entrepreneur-friendly regulation, in line with the Government of India’s Ease of Doing Business initiatives and the specific needs of Jammu and Kashmir.
Responding to apprehensions raised by civil society groups, Qadiri urged stakeholders to examine the Act’s provisions, safeguards and exceptions carefully, distinguishing between shortcomings in the legislation itself and concerns that could be addressed through implementation rules.
He expressed hope that the forthcoming guidelines would clearly define protections relating to the environment, public safety and planned development without undermining the legislation’s central objective of simplifying business procedures.
The Association appealed to civil society organisations and other stakeholders to engage constructively with the reform process, arguing that economic development and environmental protection were complementary responsibilities.
It also called on the government to ensure that the rules and guidelines, once notified, faithfully reflected the spirit and intent of the legislation. Fresh procedural requirements, discretionary interpretations or bureaucratic practices that recreated existing obstacles, it warned, would defeat the purpose of the reform.
The Association sought clearly defined timelines, accountability of officials, effective grievance-redressal mechanisms and regular monitoring at the highest level to ensure uniform implementation across government departments. It said the reforms must bring about a visible change in administrative attitudes, replacing a culture of control with one based on facilitation and trust.
The Association said the legislation’s real impact should be measured by whether entrepreneurs were freed from unnecessary official interference and could devote more time and resources to production, innovation, expansion and employment generation.
It cautioned that the benefits promised through the Act must not be lost during implementation.
