6K-acre land bank allocated for setting up 37 industrial estates

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 23

In a bid to attract investors, Jammu and Kashmir’s Industries and Commerce Department has allocated a land bank of over 6,000 acres for creating modern-age industrial estates “to help the business grow in identified sectors”.

This follows the decision of the Administrative Council (AC), headed by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, for transfer of UT lands measuring nearly 10,000 kanals in favour of the Industries and Commerce Department for establishing 37 new industrial estates in Jammu and Kashmir.

“This is the part of the UT Administration’s efforts to create industry-friendly environment where the investors can explore, invest, grow and brand J&K at the national level,” sources said, adding, “The last industrial estates was established in the Ghatti area of Kathua district”.

The sources said the identified areas where new industrial estates were being proposed to be established would witness a boost in the “local economy, generation of employment opportunities and overall development of the area”.

Stakeholders, however, said there was a need for comprehensive proposal to make upcoming industrial estates as a “vibrant centre of industrial activities”.

“The identified areas don’t have proper road connectivity, which will be a major obstacle in transportation of raw material and finished products. Secondly, power supply would be a major issue. The government should have identified the lands adjacent to existing industrial estates where road connectivity and power supply are available,” Annil Suri, noted industrialist said.