STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: The Legislative Assembly was on Wednesday told that the state government expected to attract investments worth Rs 20,000 crore over the next decade. “With a slew of industry-friendly measures, the J&K government aims to attract investments of Rs 20,000 crore over the next 10 years,” Minister for Industries and Commerce Chander Parkash Ganga said in the Assembly here.
Winding up the discussion on demand for grants of Industries and Commerce department, the minister said the government was focussed on the development of this vital sector. As per the latest economic survey conducted by the government, industry contributes 25.87 per cent to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and various steps are being taken to strengthen the sector for socio-economic transformation of the state.
The minister added that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) have been the main focus areas of the government.
There are 30,257 registered MSME units employing about 1.45 lakh people in the state.
Highlighting the provisions of New Industrial Policy 2016, the minister said it envisions ease of doing business by simplifying the process of obtaining clearances, no-objection certificates, including self-certification of documents and others. Ganga acknowledged the challenges being faced by the handloom sector from powerlooms and modernisation, in addition to lack of capital and investment. He said the government aims at promoting the sector through integrated handicraft development, handloom weaver comprehensive welfare and modernisation schemes, besides renovation of looms and loan assistance to cooperative societies. The minister underscored the importance of labour-extensive sectors of handicraft and handloom in mitigating the challenges of unemployment.
He said the handloom units produce Loi, Pattu blankets, Pashmina, Ruffle and Dasoi Khat, adding that the department has taken 15 handloom clusters and 20 group approach projects at a cost of Rs 12.23 crore under the Integrated Handloom Department Scheme (IHDS).
Referring to the initiatives taken under the skill development programme, Ganga said during 2015-16, 7,890 people were trained at elementary and 553 at advanced training centres in various crafts such as sozni, crewl, paper mache, fulkari, zari and chain-stitching.
He said the Artisan Credit Card scheme has benefited 3,453 artisans, besides Rs 26.36 crore was provided for
interest subvention during 2015-16.
