Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta sets tone for investments in J&K at a Global Convention in London

LONDON : Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today beckoned the global investors to come and invest in the unexplored land of opportunities of J&K for reaping the benefits extended by the government there.

Dr Mehta made these remarks while speaking as guest of honour at London Global Convention 2022 on Corporate Governance & Sustainability held by Institute of Directors, India under the theme ‘Building an Effective Board that Works & Top Global Trends’ here at London.

The Chief Secretary extended an invitation to the delegates to come and explore vast investment opportunities available in Jammu and Kashmir. He urged them to support J&K in its efforts to transform J&K into a success story of optimism, prosperity and growth.

He maintained that his participation in this Global event aims at building trust amongst global business fraternity and showcase strengths of Jammu & Kashmir as a potential investment destination.

He mentioned that Government of India is working towards making India a hub of global supply chain under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign. He recollected that a host of initiatives like Make in India, Vocal for Local, Promoting exports under District as Export Hub, market linkages for MSME industries to both domestic and global value chains, etc have been rolled out in this direction.

Dr Mehta gave out that in this backdrop the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy (JKIP) 2021-30 is a welcome change from the previous industrial policies and the industrial ecosystem in J&K is set to witness a paradigm shift.

Talking about the local initiatives he resonated that “Government of Jammu & Kashmir took bold and decisive steps of breaking the shackles in the path of development and the UT is fast moving towards integration with national economic trajectory, to become a prosperous and self-reliant Union Territory”.

He reiterated that momentous decisions have been taken which have changed the constitutional framework, removed artificial legal and economic barriers between J&K and the rest of the country and have fully integrated J&K market with the national market and at par with other parts of the country.

He informed the gathering that the people of J&K can now fully enjoy the rights and benefits enjoyed by all other citizens of India rather than just a limited set of rights and benefits. He stated that a strong grassroots democracy has been set up with genuine participation of people at the lowest rungs of governance in Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies.

Taking this opportunity the Chief Secretary assured the participants that the Government is committed to transform Jammu and Kashmir into a prosperous and progressive region and present a new version of Jammu and Kashmir that would amply represent its rich tradition of hospitality, warmth & inclusiveness and globally acclaimed status as “paradise on earth”.

For further encouragement of the investors he informed them that around 14 million tourists visited the UT this year. He pointed out that the administration has of late initiated measures to promote hidden and offbeat tourist destinations offering new and varied experience to visitors. He said that the UT offers huge potential in adventure, pilgrimage, spiritual, and health tourism.

While picturizing our economic strengths Dr Mehta stated, “J&K has a robust economy centred around agriculture, horticulture and the services sector. It has excellent land and water resources, a major attraction”.

Regarding the infrastructure development he termed that the long pending projects have been completed or speeded up for bolstering our associated policies. He maintained that J&K took plethora of infrastructure upgradation steps including construction of Ring Roads, National Highways, railway projects, Metro Projects, Urban projects, Health, Power and Irrigation projects and sports infrastructure at a rapid pace. He said that Good governance practices have brought a sense of discipline and accountability in the government system.

Dr Mehta disclosed that the Central Government has introduced the New Scheme for the Holistic Development of J&K. Giving details he said that the scheme lays special focus on equitable development through a graded incentive structure that rewards both manufacturing and service sectors in remote areas of J&K. The scheme is approved with a total outlay of Rs. 28,400 crores i.e., 3.7 Billion USD up to the year 2025, he revealed.

Regarding the promotion of transparency in the region he said that the administration has come up with new Industrial Land allotment Policy and Jammu and Kashmir Private Industrial Estate Development Policy, which incorporates mechanisms for public-private partnership in the industrial sector. He also talked about the land use change policy for industrial development, FDI policy and other factors for a smooth roll-out of a new era of growth in the UT.

The Chief Secretary also provided details about the Launch of Single Window Portal as one stop solution for attaining all the approvals and permissions in a time bound manner. He told them that about 215 services are active on our single window portal ushering in the age of less government and more governance in its real sense.

The 4-day convention held between 8-12 of November is being attended by leaders, policy makers, academicians, jurists, social thinkers, and professionals in business, finance, corporate governance, and sustainability fields from across the world. Pertinent to mention here that the last Annual Global Convention held in 2019 at London with record participation of 400 delegates both globally and from India. More than 24 countries participated in the event.

Many international brands and leading global companies have been part of this event like Mark and spencer (UK), Rolls Royce (UK), Unilever (UK), Coca Cola(USA), Doha Bank (Qatar), Glaxo Healthcare(UK),Grande (France), Sekisui chemicals(Japan), Stantec Inc (Canada),IRPC (Thailand), Emirates National Oil company (UAE), NASDAQ(USA) and many more.

At the end the Chief Secretary thanked the organizers and participants for their roles and for their prospect of being part of J&K’s mutual growth story.