Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP welcomed the new industrial package for the Union Territory on Saturday, saying employment generation is the underlying theme of the scheme that will give a boost to holistic and balanced development.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration announced a new industrial development scheme (IDS) with a total outlay of Rs 28,400 crore on Thursday to encourage new investments and take industrial development to the block level.
“For the first time, an industrial package is announced with a commitment up to 2037 to build confidence among the stakeholders…employment generation is the underlying theme of this scheme that will give a boost to a holistic and balanced development of the Union Territory,” Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina told reporters here.
Flanked by senior party leaders, including former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta, Raina thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for the mega industrial package.
“The new scheme will go a long way in ushering an era of socio-economic development of the region as it will generate more employment, both in rural and urban areas of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
The BJP leader stressed that the core objective and vision of the scheme is to lay a special emphasis on sustainable development by creating a favourable ecosystem for new investments as also by fostering the existing partners of growth.
“The scheme will attract unprecedented investments and create direct and indirect employment,” he said.
Raina said for the purpose of equitable and balanced development, the policy lays a special focus on creation of zones where the industrially-backward areas will be given higher incentives.
Pointing out that the scheme has a total outlay of Rs 28,400 crore and covers a period of about 17 years, he said, “It covers not only the manufacturing sector, but aims to give a major fillip to the service industry as well. The target is to generate employment for 4.5 lakh people in due course of time.”
Raina highlighted that the scheme aspires to take industrial development to the block level in Jammu and Kashmir as well as a substantial expansion of the existing units.
“The scheme has been simplified on the lines of ease of doing business by bringing a major GST-linked incentive that will ensure a less compliance burden. The quantum of assistance is much higher in the proposed scheme as compared to the earlier IDS as the GST-linked incentive alone provides for a maximum of three times of investments in plant and machinery.
“In addition to this, capital incentive and capital interest subvention have also been provided,” he said.
Raina lauded the efforts of the officers of the Industries and Commerce department, who worked day and night for the formulation of the policy.