JAMMU: A delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), J&K State Council, headed by its Chairman, Sheikh Imran, met the Governor N. N. Vohra at the Civil Secretariat today and briefed him about the efforts being made by CII in making J&K a preferred investment destination in the country.
The delegation also discussed with the Governor issues relating to other important sectors particularly IT, tourism, horticulture and agriculture.
The meeting was attended by Financial Commissioner, Planning & Development Department, B. B. Vyas, Principal Secretary to the Governor, P. K. Tripathi and Commissioner / Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Shailendra Kumar and other concerned senior officers.
The Governor was briefed by the delegation about J&K emerging as a possible destination for $5 billion Semiconductor Fab Mega Project, which has a potential to create over 50,000 jobs for skilled manpower in the state. The delegation presented a DPR to the Governor and explained the broad contours of the project, especially those related to the availability of land, roads & water supply, laying of optical fibre, power tariff on existing rates, besides arranging private equity of Rs. 7,000 crore to meet the requirement for implementing the project, which envisages making India a leading global provider of semi-conductors.
After discussions, the Governor asked Mr. B.B. Vyas to convene an early meeting with the stakeholders so that the issues are discussed threadbare.
The delegation also highlighted the immense potential of J&K in becoming a hub of Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem if right impetus is provided to the IT sector, which will then open up employment opportunities for our skilled human resource. For this, the delegation suggested link up of ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) and better synergy between IT, Technical and Higher Education Departments. CII also stressed upon the need to establish ESDM Cells in each ITI that could start from training-cum-skills and later navigate to domain-specific start-up business ventures at our State Universities, Science Colleges and Government Polytechnics.
The Governor emphasized institutional linkup between CII and J&K EDI. He also stressed educational institutions being connected by use of smart classrooms for better teaching.
Commissioner I&C drew attention to the Skill Development Mission by citing the example of Leather Cluster at IGC (Industrial Growth Centre), at Lassipora in Pulwama district with possible tie-up with ITI Pulwama which can impart training in modern concepts and design in leather manufacturing.
While briefing the Governor about challenges and opportunities for J&K in the tourism sector, the delegation reiterated the need to declare tourism as an industry, enabling the principal stakeholders to avail the benefits under the Package of Incentives extended to industrial units. It also highlighted the need for developing new tourist circuits and destinations besides earmarking sufficient Land Bank for creating Tourism Estates with integrated facilities that provide fillip to the hospitality and services sectors, which are critical to the promotion of travel industry in the state.
The delegation also presented to the Governor a copy of the MoU it has signed with Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore to undertake study on Ease of Doing Business. The delegation suggested a tripartite MoU involving the State Government CII – LKY School for a similar Master Plan for J&K.
The delegation also demanded a crop insurance scheme for farmers and fruit growers in proportion to the market valuation of their produce.
The Governor was also briefed about the rehabilitation project being carried out by CII in Bandipora in which it is constructing 380 lavatories for poorest of the poor in 10 of the worst-affected villages in the district.
The Governor listened to the issues raised by the delegation and asked Mr. Vyas to ensure time-bound action on the suggestions made by the CII.
The CII delegation comprised Rahul Sahai, Raju Chaudhary, Vicky Mahajan, Anil Mahajan, Varun Singla and Khurshid Maqbool Dar.
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