Corporate giants keen to invest in J&K

With the Centre scrapping J&K’s special status, private sector companies have started showing interest in investing in the region.

According to sources, top corporate houses such as Tata Sons, Reliance Industries and Apollo have expressed interest. The companies did not respond to DH queries until the time of going to press.

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The sources also said the J&K government would approach the Adani Group for investments. “Over time, the place will see a huge rush of investors,” a senior government official said.

An investors’ meet is being held in October to attract private sector investment in Jammu and Kashmir. However, industry sources say that most of the investment plans would be centred on the Jammu province of the proposed Union Territory. “Kashmir seems to be continuing with civil unrest. So businesses which opt for stability won’t be keen on investing there,” an industry source told DH.

During 2017, the J&K had witnessed investment proposals worth Rs 1,008 crore. On the other side, during 2018, the state had seen investments worth Rs 932 crore being implemented.

J&K Bank to be merged

The home ministry is mulling over the possibility of merging the only listed entity, Jammu and Kashmir Bank (JKB), in a bid to gain further control over the bank. “We are planning to merge. The bank can be merged with SBI or a private bank that we are planning to approach,” official sources told DH.

The merger of the bank would start with the merging of J&K Bank’s rural banking division with that of SBI. “The government, as of date, is consulting the RBI on the issue,” a source said.