The Jammu and Kashmir administration will ensure that jobs,lands and assets are protected for the people of the Union Territory as it invitesinvestments after abrogation of the special status, its Lieutenant Governor GCMurmu said here on Monday.
The LG was addressing businessmen at a roadshow organisedfor the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Global Investors’ Summit.
“Let me tell you, a lot of apprehension is there, andlocal people also have apprehension that if we open up Jammu and Kashmir, therewill be a host of people coming from outside, and what about us?
“At this forum, I would like to say that although wehave opened up everything, we will see to it that job, land and assets areprotected for the (local) people, as it happens in Gujarat,” Murmu said.
Murmu said J-K youths are proactive and competent, and therewas no lack of skilled manpower, and industry setting up units there willcreate ample opportunities for them.
He said the J-K government is working to remove barriers andfacilitate a single-window system in order to attract investment, and claimedthat Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing a “paradigm shift” after theabrogation of Article 370 and 35 (A).
The Central government on August 5, 2019 revoked Article 370to take away Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, and announced bifurcation ofthe state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“We have implemented three-tier Panchayati Raj system.We are empowering urban local bodies. We are implementing other things, andalso decentralising. Everything will be in place. We will be facilitatingsingle window system and are also replicating Indextb kind of thing. So youwill see more ease of doing business,” he said.
Indextb is an investment promotion organisation of Gujaratgovernment to facilitate industrial development.
Appealing to Gujarati entrepreneurs to invest in Jammu andKashmir, Murmu said the kind of apprehension about the region that existedearlier is no longer here.
“Apprehensions like militancy and other things arelimited to certain pockets. That too has become negligible. What was happeningin earlier years is gone. There is complete peaceful atmosphere there,” hesaid.
Murmu said while there were no restrictions now on outsiderspurchasing land in J-K, the government is investing in urban infrastructure andconnectivity, and has earmarked a huge land bank to set up industries.
He said while the region has ample hydro power supply,skilled manpower, and connectivity, his government has come out “with avery competitive policy,” drafting sectoral policy to facilitateinvestment.
“We are restructuring departments, streamlining eachand every thing to provide ease of doing business. We are facilitatingeverything,” he said.
The J-K administration held its sixth and last roadshow inAhmedabad for the upcoming investors summit to be held in May.
It seeks to attract investments, especially in the areas oftextiles, food processing and manufacturing from Gujarat.
Five roadshows were earlier held in Bengaluru, Kolkata,Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, with MoUs promising investments of Rs 10,000crore signed, an official said.