Several leading industrialists to sign MoUs
JK expects good investments from PM, HM’s home State
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 7: With a view to attract maximum private investments from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s home State of Gujarat, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu will be leading the Jammu and Kashmir delegation to Ahmedabad on March 9 for a roadshow there, interact with the investors and mobilize them to set up industry in the Union Territory.
Top official sources told the Excelsior that Murmu, who had also served as Additional Principal Secretary with Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, has decided to himself lead the Jammu and Kashmir delegation to Ahmedabad to meet the industrialists and attract investments for Jammu and Kashmir with a bid to give boost to private sector to fetch employment for the local youth.
“Top industrialists of Gujarat were already in touch with the administration in Jammu and Kashmir and number of them have agreed to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during March 9 roadshow in Ahmedabad,” sources said, adding that the J&K Government was expecting handsome private investment in the Union Territory from Gujarat as it happens to be the home State of Modi and Shah, who have been taking very keen interest in development of Jammu and Kashmir and were also likely to attend first-ever Global Investors Summit in Srinagar and Jammu on May 26 and 27.
Prior to Ahmedabad, the Lieutenant Governor had attended roadshow in Mumbai only while roadshows in other major cities like Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai etc were joined by the top bureaucrats designated by the Union Territory Government.
“Jammu and Kashmir received encouraging response at all roadshows across top cities of the country and it is anticipating good response in Ahmedabad, more from all other cities,” sources said, adding that as a prelude to the roadshow several industrialists of Gujarat were already in touch with the Union Territory administration.
The Jammu and Kashmir delegation was expected to sign non-binding Memorandums of Understanding with industrialists of Gujarat at Ahmedabad on March 9 pending their participation at the Global Investors Summit.
Jammu and Kashmir is hosting first-ever Global Investors Summit in Srinagar and Jammu, the twin rotational capital cities of the Union Territory on May 26 and 27, in which it was anticipating private investments running into around Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 45,000 crore. However, keeping in view the limited infrastructure, the Government might filter investments and encourage environment-friendly investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore or little more initially and keep rest pending for second phase.
The Government feels that investment by private sector will go long way in meeting employment demands in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It will also help the youth of neighbouring Union Territory of Ladakh in securing employment, sources said.
They added that leading chains of education and medical sectors were keen to invest in Jammu and Kashmir which was way behind in both these fields as compared to neighbouring Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
“Education sector has shown interest in opening professional colleges, degree colleges and even Universities while medical sector was keen to open big hospitals,” sources pointed out.
With encouraging response to the investments in Jammu and Kashmir following scrapping of special Constitutional provisions, the Centre and UT Governments are confident that at least 40 percent jobs will be provided by the private sector leaving 60 percent space for the Government.
According to sources, there were several Jammu and Kashmir specific sectors in which the industrialists across different States have shown keen interest for investment. The Government is in talks with them. Number of industrialists have decided to send their representatives to the Union Territory to finalize the investments once the Coronavirus threat comes down.
As reported exclusively by the Excelsior, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh are likely to attend the Global Investors Summit in Jammu and Kashmir on May 26 and 27.
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