J&K aims to take exports to Rs 5,000 crore in 2 years: L-G Sinha

Asserting that his administration aims to take exports to Rs 5,000 crore from the UT in the next two years, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday requested the Centre to set up a dry port with customs clearance facility in the union territory. He also requested for regular commercial international flights for the twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu to boost tourism and trade and also advocated for enhancing the air cargo capacity of J&K to enable easy transportation of perishable items.

Sinha was speaking at the 6th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, through virtual mode. During the meeting, the Lt Governor highlighted major reformative measures taken by the UT, besides apprising the meeting about the new trajectory it has undertaken in the past 17 months, an official release said.

At the outset, the Lt Governor, on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his unstinting support in accelerating the pace of development in the UT. "After 5th August 2019, Jammu & Kashmir got new opportunities of socio-economic development that were not there for many decades.

J&K is passing through a period of transition for development, peace and prosperity. Today, among the people of Jammu and Kashmir, there is an outlook of hopeful optimism”, he remarked. While making suggestions for giving further push to the developmental process in Jammu and Kashmir, Sinha requested the centre for considering the demand for setting up of Dry Port in J&K with a customs clearance facility to increase the trade within and outside the Country.

To give a boost to tourism and trade in J&K, he requested that Srinagar and Jammu be opened to regular commercial International flights. “We are aiming to take J&K export worth from Rs 1,400 crore to Rs 5,000 crore in the next two years. Air Cargo capacity for J&K needs to be enhanced to enable easy transportation of perishable items,” he said.

He requested for simplification of certain permissions under Water Act and Air Act, 1981 along with clearances and reduction of time period from 4 months to 30 days so that clearances can be obtained easily and in a short time for setting up industrial units. The Lt Governor suggested for setting up Regional Office of MoEF in J&K for speedy disposal of Environment Clearances cases for larger projects.

He also suggested that the centre may consider specific product based funding programs. National Saffron Mission has succeeded because of it focus on one product, he said. Infrastructural projects need to be devised considering the needs of 20-25 years from now, he said and suggested new road construction technology like cold mix plant and use of pre-fabricated bridges could be promoted to reduce the construction time-period.

Speaking on the Economic reforms, the Lt Governor observed that the existing industrial landscape is being transformed into futuristic, profitable and sustainable ecosystem, leading to livelihood generation, better education, skill development and better quality of life. “From job creation to entrepreneurship, we are going to make J&K a model of Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The government is working on promoting institutional readiness, increasing entrepreneurship and attracting investments. The multiplier effect of industrial transformation will be felt across the entire length and breadth of the UT”, said the Lt Governor. New Industrial Development Scheme, with an outlay of Rs.28,400 Crore, has been approved by the centre for encouraging investment in manufacturing and service sectors in J&K, which will help in stepping up economic development in J&K, the Lt Governor said.