Lieutenant Governor reviews functioning of Industries & Commerce Department

Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha took a review of the Industries and Commerce Department at Raj Bhavan, here today to assess the activities taken up by the department in strengthening the investment ecosystem in the Union Territory of J&K.
The meeting was attended by Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Sh. K.K Sharma; Chief Secretary, Sh. BVR Subrahmanyam; Commissioner Secretary Industries & Commerce Department, Sh. Manoj Kumar Dwivedi; MD JKTPO, Ms. Ankita Kar; Director Industries, Jammu Ms. Anoo Malhotra; Director Industries, Kashmir Sh. Mehmood Shah and other officers of the Industries & Commerce Department.
A detailed presentation was given by Commissioner Secretary Industries and Commerce Sh. Manoj Kumar Dwivedi outlining the current Industrial scenario in the Union Territory including setting up of Industrial estates.
During the presentation, Commissioner Secretary Industries and Commerce department listed out the steps taken by the department in building state of the art Industrial Infrastructure in the Union Territory which includes Textile Parks, Food processing parks, Export Oriented zones, IT parks, Biotech Parks, etc. He also briefed about the upcoming medical device park and establishment of Private Industrial Parks in the Union Territory.
The meeting was informed that the government has already identified 6000 acres of land for industrial development in the UT, out of which around 3000 acres has already been acquired by the department. Further, 14 Sector-specific policies were drafted out of which 11 have been approved by the Administrative Council and rest are in the final stages of approval. These policies cover major thrust areas of the J&K like Agriculture, Tourism, Education, Horticulture, Silk, Hydro and renewable energy, IT, etc.
Moreover, the upcoming Land allotment policy exclusively meant for Industrial purpose and the new Industrial Policy for MSME and Large Industries are in final stages and will be notified soon. Government is also working towards Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) measures in the Union Territory and aims to achieve 100% compliance in implementing District and State level reforms in the current financial year.
The Lt Governor was also appraised that the Union Territory is on course to organize the first of its kind Global Investor Summit which is on hold due to the prevailing COVID situation. In run-up to the Global Investor Summit, the UT government has already signed 281 MoUs with different business houses through roadshows organized in 6 major cities across the country.
After a threadbare discussion, the Lt Governor directed the officers to Identify District wise specific investment sectors in consultation with the business community of that particular district, identifying 20 investment projects for immediate grounding; 10 projects each for Jammu and Kashmir and creating a real-time dashboard for monitoring of timely grounding of these projects.
The Lt Governor exhorted upon officers to prioritize the aspirations of the local entrepreneurs while putting in concerted efforts for making J&K the most investor friendly Union Territory.