Industrialisation has been labelled as the main channel of sustainable development in the modern-day world. And manufacturing is considered as the backbone of any industrial system.
The government of J&K for a very long time has been trying its best to set in place, a sustainable industrialisation process. A number of policies, plans, initiatives and packages have been advancing from time to time.
A number of associations and unions have been formed. Mutually reinforcing, the industrial associations and the government have been trying their best to set in place a sustainable industrialisation process. The industrialisation scenario of Jammu and Kashmir has seen a number of bureaucrats and a number of leaders. The results have been pretty much mixed till date.
However, some positive change has been registered in the past few years. The main driver of industrialisation and manufacturing growth in the region of Kashmir has specifically come from the Industrial Growth Centre-Lassipora Pulwama (IGC-L).
The IGC-L is the largest industrial estate of the region by size and area. Its origin and existence is comparatively new but the IGC has catered to a growing number of start-ups and entrepreneurs in the region in the recent past. IGC is home to a number of industrial units and ventures.
Each new day it welcomes new units and equally caters to their administrative, technical and infrastructural needs. Most of the major units within the IGC started as Micro or Small start-ups but the conducive atmosphere has been positively supporting their production process and these units have grown as the face of industrialization in the region of Kashmir.
The red-tape has historically been identified as one of the main stumbling blocks for the whole industrialisation process in Jammu and Kashmir, persisting for years and decades. It has been one of the main reasons for the halt in the production activities of many units.
However, in the past few years, the industrial Association of Lassipora has been able to strengthen itself so much that all these halted operations have been re-started with immediate action.
These actions have significantly contributed to the increase in output, production, manufacturing activities and employment generation coming from the IGC-L.
Some of these instances have already been quoted in media as stories of success emancipating out of administrative failure. The units of the same industrial groups from other industrial estates remain shut till date but the IGC-L has come out successful in keeping all its units functional and productive.
At the ground level, a holistic infrastructural development has been witnessed. From the macdamization of the roads to the installation of security gates and supply chain friendly initiatives, continuous development has been witnessed.
A random sampling of ten passer-by’s from the estate gate reveals that the infrastructure has actually seen a dynamic change in the past few years. And given the positive developments. Every interviewed person was hopeful that the estate would soon be having hundred percent of the amenities it needs in totality.
Empirical research coming from the relevant stakeholders has always underlined the electricity and power shortage in the region, especially in the industrial sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Quite contrary to this ground reality, a dynamic change has been witnessed in the increase in consumption to 445,00,00 power units within the estate during the year 2022-23 till date.
The sustainable power has contributed multiplicative lead towards the increase in the overall production within the estate limits. A discussion with the current administration reveals that their efforts have been put in this direction and it’s going to increase manifold by the end of this year.
The IGC-L on its website, which itself is a very novel thing in the context of Kashmiri industrial associations, presents the documents of five different memorandums of understanding, signed with academia and other organisations of mutual and reinforcing relevance. These MoUs are a long-term contribution of the IGCL towards a holistic industrialisation, start-up, and manufacturing growth trajectory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The IGC-L can be quoted as a model industrial growth centre with a model administration contributing significantly towards the industrialisation process of Jammu and Kashmir. If the processes and trajectories of this association are to be followed by other units, estates and associations, the sustainable industrialisation path of Jammu and Kashmir is not more than two decades away.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.