As J&K opens for investment, govt earmarks additional 6,037 acres for industrial estates

Jammu and Kashmir government has earmarked an additional 6,037 acres of land for establishing 42 new industrial estates with a proposed investment of Rs 34,292 crore which can generate employment for 1.54 lakh persons.

3,379 applications have already been approved for the proposed investment of Rs 34,292 crore, an official document reveals. Of these, IRCON and National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) will be developing 19 new industrial estates on priority.

The draft Memorandum of Understanding for these industrial estates is being finalized by the J&K Industries and Commerce department. Currently, there are 5,294 industrial units functioning in 67 industrial estates on 4667 acres of land thereby providing employment to 1.09 lakh people.

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The government of India had launched the Industrial Development Scheme in J&K on January 6, 2021, which was to the tune of Rs 28,400 crore and was expected to generate four lakh jobs for the youth in the private sector.

However, as per officials, the scheme received a response much beyond the expectations of both Union as well as UT governments and investment proposals have already reached Rs 65,000 crore while more are in the pipeline.

As per the official document, 5,327 online applications were received on the Single Window Portal for allotment of land to set up industrial units with investment and employment potential of Rs 65,000 crore and 3.12 lakh persons respectively.

Of these, 3,379 applications have been approved so far with a proposed investment of Rs 34,294 crore and employment potential of 1.54 lakh persons. Moreover, private investment of Rs 1539.87 crore has been grounded during the Financial Year 2022-23 (ending January 2023), out of which Rs 949.21 crore is for 552 units which have commenced production and operations.

An MoU has been executed by the J&K government with the government of Dubai for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of over Rs 500 crore for the development of two Information Technology (IT) towers and a shopping hall.