Jammu and Kashmir goes south, woos big ticket Chennai industrialists

Chennai: Continuing its efforts to project Jammu and Kashmir as an ideal industrial destination, the Government today connected north with south India by reaching out to top business firms in Chennai here with the promise to provide the right industrial environment for setting up their units.
The event is part of the pre-summit road-shows in the run up to ‘J&K Global Investors’ Summit 2020’, to be held later this year. The Road-Shows have already been held at Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad and these have given a huge impetus to explore investment opportunities in J&K by big ticket and leading business firms of the country.
Advisor to the Lt. Governor, Mr. K. K. Sharma led the team of senior officers from J&K administration to Chennai which included Financial Commissioner, Health & Medical Education Department, Mr. Atal Dulloo, Principal Secretary to the Lt. Governor, J&K, Mr. Bipul Pathak, Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, Mr. Tariq Hussain Ganai, Director I&C, Jammu, Mrs. Anoo Malhotra, Director I&C, Kashmir, Mr. Mahmood Ahmad Shah and Director Handicrafts, Mr. Mussrat Islam. Besides, representatives from successful business firms having set up their units in J&K like M/s Kanwal Spices, M/s Anphar Organic Pvt. Ltd and M/s Godrej Consumer Products Ltd also participated in the road-show and highlighted the various potential sectors for investment in the newly-created Union Territory.
The road-shows are being organized by Jammu & Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO), in collaboration with media and knowledge partners like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Ernst & Young, besides national partner, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The event opened with a riveting five-minute film which captured Jammu & Kashmir’s clarion call for investment in the industrial sector.
In his keynote address, Mr. Sharma highlighted the broader context of holding the Global Investors’ Summit in Jammu and Kashmir after it became a UT last year. He handed out an assurance to the investors about further entrenching ease of doing business to build investment confidence. “We are sure that by attracting investment in various potential sectors like tour and travel industry, pharma, horticulture, AYUSH and power, Jammu and Kashmir shall integrate more with the rest of the country,” he said, adding that under the strong leadership of the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi and Lt. Governor, J&K, Mr. GC Murmu, Jammu and Kashmir is moving in the right direction.
Urging the investors to grab ‘first mover’s advantage’, Mr. Sharma reflected upon the Government’s efforts to project J&K as a preferred investment destination. He said the feedback from the top investors during the road-shows and business meetings has been encouraging and the biggest takeaway for J&K ahead of the Global Investment Summit to be held in May in the two capital cities. “We are thinking long term to provide sectoral and industrial policy much needed stability,” he added.
Making a pointed reference about the availability of assured land bank for setting up new business enterprises, the Advisor said the Government shall further expand its land base to woo more business entrepreneurs to J&K. “We have also initiated many reforms to incentivize industrial investment in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Calling upon Chennai investors to be part of J&K growth story, the Advisor handed out an assurance on providing fool-proof safety and security to those who are inclined to set up business units in J&K.
Extending a warm welcome to the industrial fraternity of Chennai, Mr. Atal Dulloo, in his speech, highlighted the intent of Jammu and Kashmir to indulge in serious business with the prospective investors. He described Jammu and Kashmir as a place of unparalleled beauty and tremendous economic potential and made specific reference to the opportunities in the horticulture sector with J&K leading the country in apple, walnut and saffron production.
The Advisor also highlighted the potential of Jammu and Kashmir in wool and silk processing and handicrafts sector, especially silk carpets, Kani and Pashmina shawls, which are very popular in several countries of Europe, Middle East as well as the United States.
Describing J&K as a haven for business investment in various sectors, Mr. Dulloo rolled out data on health and per capita income indicators that make J&K as a potential industrial destination. He drew the attention of the investors towards the potential in affordable medical tourism in J&K. “We have developed a robust healthcare policy to attract investment in health sector wherein land as UT’s equity shall be provided at nominal premium to private business firms who are interested to partner J&K in its sojourn towards economic prosperity,” he added.
In her address, Director, I&C, Jammu, presented a brief insight into the 14 shortlisted sectors for investment which hold huge potential in Jammu and Kashmir. She specifically highlighted the opportunities for investment in traditional sectors like handloom and handicrafts, tourism, film production and agro and horticulture-based industries, where J&K has positioned itself as an independent destination. She also spelt out the various incentives being provided to industrialists for setting up their units in J&K.
Director, I&C, Kashmir, Mr. Mahmood Shah, presented a brief outlook about emerging opportunities in IT sector and creation of start-up ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir. He highlighted the availability of technically-talented IT human resource in J&K to attract an investment of Rs.5000 crore in the sector. He also gave an insight into the UT’s endeavour to navigate into digital mode, establishing plug-and-play IT hubs and setting up of timelines on single window clearance mechanism and time-bound approvals to upcoming investment projects. His presentation ended with a list of investable projects in Jammu & Kashmir in IT sector.
Mr. O S Kumaran, a leading Chennai-based industrialist and Mr. Farooq Amin, a local industrialist from Jammu and Kashmir led the experience sharing from the private sector. The event created quite a buzz amongst the top business fraternity from Chennai with 90 top industrialists participating and expressing keen interest to sign MoUs worth Rs1140 crores.
In a bid to attract outside investment to boost industrial sector, UT Government has already formulated 14 investor-friendly sectoral policies in potential sectors like Tourism and Film Tourism, Horticulture & Post-Harvest Management, Agro and Food Processing, Mulberry production for Silk, Health & Pharmaceuticals’ Manufacturing, IT/ ITeS, Renewable Energy, Infrastructure and Real Estates, Education, Handlooms and Handicrafts.
The road-show was followed by one-on-one B2G and G2B meetings with top industry groups including BRKINS, Geo-Map System (P) Ltd, Dream Valley Golf & Resorts Pvt Ltd, TAIPA (Tower and Infrastructure Providers), TS TRANSCO, ASP Enterprise, ABC India Pvt Ltd, along with other leading business players.
The pre-summit road-shows will conclude on March 9 in Ahmedabad and focus will then shift to the Global Investment Summit to be held in May later this year.