Jammu and Kashmir land finds more than 6,900 bids: Report

The Jammu and Kashmir government has received 6,909 applications as of July 3 from various players to set up new ventures in the Union Territory

Land in Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing as many as 6,909 applications. Former Sri Lankan spinner Mutiah Muralidaran's company, Wellspun group and Dubai's Enaar group have been allotted land, The Indian Express reported.

Representative image: The Jammu and Kashmir government has received 6909 applications as of July 3 from various players to set up new ventures and industrial units in the Union Territory (Parveen Kumar/ HT)

The allotment of land for these ventures could garner investments worth Rs. 1.23 lakh crore for the Union Territory,officials told IE. These industrial units could potentially generate employment for 4,69,545 people - 2,17,760 in Jammu and 2,51, 785 in Kashmir.

The government is processing 6,909 applications in total as of July 3, using it's single-window system. As per the report, the Jammu region has invited proposals worth Rs. 81594.87 crore while the Kashmir division has received proposals worth Rs. 41,633.09 crore.

The Jammu division has fewer applications at 1,902, but attracts a larger scale of industrial units, with a total land requirement of 4,935.61 acres. A lot of demand is concentrated in the Kathua district, which has proximity to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

The Kashmir valley has 5,007 applications, mostly for small and medium enterprises, with a land requirement of 3,671.98 acres.

Major Players

Doctor Arun Kumar Manhas, Director of Jammu's Industries and Commerce Department, told IE, that over the past year, Rs. 21,000 crore worth of investments have been made into projects in the Jammu division, including 15 large-scale projects worth Rs. 14,594 crore in Kathua's Bhagthali Industrial Estate.

Other major investors and their projects are:

Kandhari Beverages: The company, most known for it's production of soft drinks such as Thums Up has begun construction on their allotted 36 acres to set up a pet bottling plant worth Rs.1,100 crore.

Muralidharan's Ceylon Beverages: The company owned by the former Sri Lankan cricketer has been allotted 25.75 acres for a Rs.1,600 crore bottle filling and aluminium can manufacturing unit in Kathua. Currently, they are in the middle of a soil testing procedure.

The company is known for fulfilling contracts with global brands such as Coca Cola and Nestle.

Ennar Group: Known for being the developers of the Burj Khalifa, the company been allotted land to construct a shopping mall and IT tower in Srinagar, as well as another IT tower in another part of the Jammu division, bringing in 500 crore in FDI.

Welspun Group: They have received land worth Rs. 850 crore for building units for Sintex water tanks and Rs. 585 crore for units for Haldirams in Kathua. They are also looking to make a residential colony for Sintex employees on the land.

Land in Demand

To increase investors and generate employment, the Jammu and Kashmir government introduced an industrial policy on April 1, 2021 which offered subsidies on capital investments, GST on purchase of plant machinery and working capital on loan from financial institutions.

With these concessions in place, forested land has been transformed into fully developed industrial estates. The National Highways Authority of India is also considering building a logistics park.

Due to the growing number of investors, the Union Territory is looking for land to accommodate all their requests. Kathua's Bhagthali Industrial Estate has 100 acres at its disposal, with 60 acres available as a chunk.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha gave a statement last month that industrialisation in Jammu and Kashmir got a boost following the new industrial policy but certain land issues remain to be resolved.

According to an IE report, 625 acres of land in Panjgrain will be transferred to the Industries Department. 50 acres of land in Gurha Slathia in Samba is also in the process of being transferred.