A body of industrialists in Jammu on Sunday welcomed the initiative of the administration to conduct roadshows across the country from February 17, ahead of the Global Investors' Summit in Jammu and Kashmir later in the year.
Bari Brahmana Industries Association (BBIA) expressed hope that the step followed by the proposed summit would attract massive investment in the industrial sector in the coming months and create employment opportunities for local youth.
In the run-up to the mega event, the Union Territory administration has come up with a plan to send 54 of its top officers to conduct roadshows across the country from February 17. Each roadshow will focus on showcasing specific sectors for seeking investment in Jammu and Kashmir.
"BBIA hails the initiative taken by the UT administration to hold roadshows...Our association is receiving a number of inquiries from prospective Investors for setting up their units in Jammu and Kashmir but they are waiting for the announcement of Central and state government fiscal incentives and the industrial policy which is under active consideration of the administration," president of the association Lalit Mahajan said.
Chairing a meeting of the association, he said the Central and state governments provided fiscal incentives from 2002 onward for the setting up of units in Jammu and Kashmir keeping in mind the disadvantages of location, shallow market due to hostile neighbouring countries and other related issues for long.
"It is the need of the hour to provide long term fiscal incentives for the inter-state sale and also for the intra-state sale to compensate the additional cost of raw materials and dispatch of finished goods to attract new investment," Mahajan suggested.
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Drawing the attention of Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu, he said a lot of attention is being given to attract investments from big industrial houses across the country which is a welcome step for rapid industrialisation in Jammu and Kashmir but focus is also required on the MSME sector as well.
"MSME sector has the potential for providing mass scale employment to local youth," he said, adding that the sector can also provide an opportunity to local youth to set up their own units with comparatively less investment.
"We request the Lt Governor to take up the matter with the Central government for the finalisation of the central package of incentives as well as state fiscal incentives for the industrial sector of Jammu and Kashmir and also to notify the new industrial policy as early as possible to attract massive investment in the industrial sector," he said.