SRINAGAR: Dispelling all the previous notions, Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, remarked that J&K is fast turning into an investment hub as people are keen to establish their business units here in the UT.
Dr Mehta made these remarks while talking in a meeting called to deliberate upon the deliverables set for the I&C Department for the year 2023-24.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Industries & Commerce, Director General of Industries, Jammu, Director of Industries, Kashmir, besides other officers of the concerned Department.
Dr Mehta urged the officers of the Department to act as facilitators to all the applicants who want to establish their business units here in J&K. He asked them to be the sole contact point for these entrepreneurs so that they are able to swiftly establish their units under the Single Window System (SWS) created for their ease.
It was revealed in the meeting that under the New Industrial Policy (NIP), 2021, a total of 5,327 applications/investment proposals have been received so far, with an anticipated investment of about Rs 66,000 Cr to be made here in the UT.
The meeting was further apprised that under NIP, investments worth about Rs 2,200 Cr have been made in J&K until the previous financial year 2022-23. These units have recently come into production, creating employment opportunities for nearly 10,000 youths.
Moreover, it was revealed that the current financial year 2023-24 is turning out to be a successful year in terms of investments actually made on the ground. It was elucidated that till date, work started on industrial units has reached nearly Rs 5,500 Cr. These units shall provide jobs to many more youths in the months to come.
Similarly, the Industries Department has allotted land for 1,854 units, out of which 854 have paid the premium. In addition, 560 units have signed lease deeds and have taken over the possession of the land allotted to start work on their units as mandated under NIP.
The success is attributed to the steps taken by the LG Administration, such as the Business Reform Action Plan and the Ease of Doing Business (BRAP-EoDB), under which 352 BRAP points have been complied with, and 3,188 burden compliances have been reduced.
It also involves providing 167 services of 18 departments on a single window portal for seamless services to prospective investors, besides developing new industrial estates and improving existing infrastructure.
It is pertinent to mention here that Jammu and Kashmir even received its first Foreign Direct Investment when Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, laid the foundation stone of a mall in Srinagar to be constructed by Dubai’s Emaar Group last year.
All these innovative steps, coupled with peace, progress, accountability, and transparency, are boosting the confidence of investors, thereby making J&K an ideal investment destination in the country.
