Chief Secretary advocates formal mechanism for industry interaction

Jammu, Dec 4: Chief Secretary, AtalDulloo today held the introductory review of the Industries and Commerce Department to take stock of its working and implementation of the Industrial Policy here in the UT.

The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, Industries and Commerce (I&C); Secretary in I&C; Managing Directors of the allied Corporations besides HoDs of I&C from both the Divisions of the UT.

In the meeting, Dulloo impressed upon the Department to create a formal mechanism for highlighting and resolution of the concerns of Industrialists. He advised to hold periodic sittings of the forum in both the divisions. The objective of the forum should be to advocate and further the interests of stakeholders in the Industrial sector.

While appreciating the fact that MSMEs form the backbone of the Industrial sector in J&K, the Chief Secretary emphasised upon providing the necessary support to the MSME units in every sphere, to upgrade their status from lower to higher stratum for large-scale employment generation in J&K.

He advised for fixing timelines for the completion of work on all the new industrial estates besides regularly monitoring the allotments to ensure the timely operationalisation of the units by the aspiring entrepreneurs.

Dulloo also observed that the PM Vishwakarma scheme is the platform that envisages end-to-end support to the marginal artisans and craftsmen who work with their hands and deserve support and recognition for their work. Hence the scheme should be given due priority for its proper implementation. He directed for providing every kind of assistance to the applicants for registration as per the approved target and ensured that every such artisan is onboarded on the portal.

Dulloo also reviewed the progress on GI tagging and He advised to fulfil all the necessary formalities for securing the same for the 11 products in the pipeline in addition to the 10 notified. He also directed to enhance the number of such authorized users in a time-bound manner.

It was given out that of the 46 new IEs, 7 and 8 are being developed by IRCON and NBCC and 6 each by CPWD and SIDCO/SICOP respectively. The Chief Secretary noted the issues of development of industrial estates and future plans of the department, capex expenditure made till date and directed to fast track its pace and meet the deadlines.

The Commissioner Secretary, I&C, informed that till October 2023,the Department has realized an investment of Rs 2079.76 Cr in the UT besides registering the highest ever investment worth Rs 2153.45 Cr in the previous fiscal.

Single window system, development of land for IEs, availability of utilities there and issues related to the flagship programmes being monitored by Ministry of Home Affairs and their status in the UT also came under discussion during this meeting.

Moreover, Dulloo emphasised on maintaining the pace of development of different sectors and ensure that the aspirations of stakeholders are also met in a hassle-free manner.