J&K receives investment proposals worth Rs 44,327 crore

Jammu: The Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Industries and Commerce Department, Jammu and Kashmir.

Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, Directors, Industries & Commerce, Kashmir/Jammu, Managing Director, SIDCO/SICOP, Managing Director, J&K Trade Promotion Organization along with the concerned officers participated in the meeting.

It was informed that under the new land allotment policy, the Industries Department has so far received 4,114 online applications for land allotment, pledging a proposed investment of Rs. 44,327 crores with an estimated employment generation potential of 1,84,100 engagements.

It was further informed that all these applications are being processed under the single window system wherein land is being allotted through a transparent mechanism giving due weightage to the proposed investment per Kanal, proposed direct employment per Kanal, category of industry, environmental impact assessment, and others. To maintain transparency in the allotment process, the finalized list of allottees along with application and selection details is shared on the Department’s official website and objections are called before official allotment.

The Chief Secretary directed completion of the allotment process in favour of eligible applicants and ensure generation of approximately 2 lakh employment in 18 months, besides submitting a consolidated report on applications processed, and time taken in their processing- land allotment- and establishing the industrial unit along with the respective employment generation potential.

Dr. Mehta further impressed upon the Department to integrate the single window system with the rapid assessment system to enable the applicant to share feedback with the Department.

He also directed the completion of end-to-end digitization of all services identified under (EoDB) by the end of this month by focussing on the remaining services of a handful of departments.

Moreover, the Industries & Commerce Department was asked to develop handicraft and handloom haats in all district headquarters to provide readymade market to the local products. The Department was further asked to expedite identifying one product per district that can be taken up for large-scale export to national and international markets.

To boost the handicrafts and handlooms of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Mehta stressed the linkage of the local market with the e-commerce platforms after suitable certification of product quality. Besides, he also emphasized the importance of GI tag of local products and quality testing thereafter to gain consumers’ confidence in the quality of products from Jammu and Kashmir.

It was informed that during the recently held Dubai Expo 2022, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has signed MoUs with various entities to bring in an investment of approximately Rs. 3,000 crore which includes industrial giants like Emaar, Lulu, Matu Investments, Al Maya Group, Noon e-commerce, among others.

During 2021-22, the Industries & Commerce Department has sanctioned 1392 cases under PMEGP with a subsidy amount of Rs. 19.34 crore, sponsored 2810 cases under Credit Card for Artisans with sanctioned amount of Rs. 1.89 crore, established 26 Karkhandars and organized 20 exhibitions for the promotion of J&K’s Industries & Commerce.

Further, to change the industrial landscape of the Union territory, the Department has also notified New Central Sector Scheme for Industrial Development, J&K Industrial Policy 2021-30, J&K Industrial Land Allotment Policy 2021-30, J&K Private Industrial Estate Development Policy 2021-30, J&K Wool Processing, Handicrafts & Handloom Policy 2020, and Karkhandar Scheme for artisans.