Business Boost | Chief Secretary promises Ease of Doing Business

Srinagar, Dec 22: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo Friday said that the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) was a top priority of the government of Jammu and Kashmir to strengthen the industrial ecosystem in the region.

An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that during an interaction with delegates and participants from various Trade and Travel Bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, the chief secretary said that the government was committed towards EODB in its true spirit and had taken a slew of measures to promote business in J&K besides providing EODB with the required approvals.

During the interaction, heads and representatives from different tour, travel, and industrial bodies presented a spectrum of issues before the Chief Secretary.

Among the topics discussed were regular power supply to industrial units, renewal of licences, registration of hotels to be eased, promotion of virgin tourist destinations in a planned manner, and streamlining of registrations.

The Hoteliers Club raised the issue of registration of hotels, permission for repairs, industry status, and extension of leases.

Houseboat Owners Association while submitting their memorandum raised the issue of renewal of licences, repairs of houseboats, and subsidised timber.

Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in its demands said that the new destinations should be promoted and developed in a planned manner besides carrying out environmental impact assessment and considering the capacity of the area.

Some representatives demanded a Gondola Cable Car facility in Sonamarg and the Hotel Association of Sonamarg raised the issue of snow clearance machines, fire and emergency vehicles, and promotion of winter sports activities.

The chief secretary said that the government would act as a facilitator and take all stakeholders on board.

He said that the government was taking the promotion of tourism in and across the country very seriously and was taking several initiatives in this direction.

Dulloo advised the various bodies that they should partner with the government in organising high-profile events like the G20 event held this year and another with the film industry could be planned.

He encouraged the tourism players to be part of FAME events that would have a cascading effect on the arrival of tourists.

Maintaining that the government was very keen on the promotion of new tourist destinations in a sustainable manner, the chief secretary said that under a comprehensive plan modern-day infrastructure and facilities would be made available at a few virgin tourist destinations to cater to the huge influx of tourists while taking into account the capacity of the locations.