JAMMU: Asking trade and industry to get ready for Goods and Service Tax (GST), a new tax regime being implemented all over India in near future, the Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather Tuesday enjoined upon all the stakeholders to examine the future impact of GST on the local industry so as to meet the twin objectives of rapid industrial growth and employment generation, according to an official spokesperson.
Speaking at a seminar on “Sustainable growth for J&K” organized by the Confederation of India Industry (CII) late last evening at Jammu, the Finance Minister said that the current “J&K State Industrial policy together with its associated “Package of Incentives” is going to expire at the end of the next financial year adding that this expiry period may also perhaps see the replacement of the VAT by much talked about Good and Services Tax at all India level. He suggested that this one year time available needs to be well utilized in examining the future impact of GST on the local Industry and analyzing the gains of the current industrial Policy to conceptualize a crystal clear roadmap for Industrialization of the State. The session on “sustainable growth for J&K “coincided with the annual session (2013-14) of J&K chapter of CII where in its annual electins were also conducted.
A number of businessmen and industrialists present on the occasion included chairman, CII North Region, Jayant Davar, outgoing Chairman, CII J&K State Council, Anil Mahajan, Newly elected Chairman, Asif Iqbal Burza, political secretary to chief Minister, Tanvir Sadiq, Chairman Chamber of Commerce and Industries CCI, YV Sharma and former Chairman, CII J&K Chapter, Sanjay Puri.
Rather said that policy and plan formulators for industrial promotion in J&K should keep in view the geographical location of the State, its remoteness from the main markets and heavy transport costs and focus on Industries having raw material locally available like in horticulture, wool, leather and minerals besides manufacturing of low weight high value items such as precision engineering and exploitation of high skills of the youth in the fields like electronics and information technology. He said more than a third of State’s GSDP is estimated to be annually spent on the items purchased from outside State and about a third of that expenditure is incurred on procurement of food and related items.

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