Srinagar: Valley’s apex industrial body, the Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK), has urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry to recommend a single, comprehensive and adequately funded industrial policy framework for Jammu & Kashmir to ensure parity in incentives for all categories of enterprises.
FCIK expressed serious concern over the growing imbalance created after closure of registrations under the New Central Sector Scheme (NCSS-2021), under which units already registered will continue to enjoy substantial incentives up to 2037, while existing units, revival cases and future investors outside the scheme have been left at a severe competitive disadvantage despite operating under identical regional constraints and economic hardships.
According to a statement issued by FCIK, a high-level meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry was on Tuesday held at Srinagar under the chairmanship of Tiruchi Siva, Member of Rajya Sabha. The meeting was attended by 22 other Members of Parliament from the Rajya Sabha, Chief Secretary J&K Government Atal Dulloo, Additional Development Commissioner MSME Praveen Kumar, MD & CEO J&K Bank Amitva Chaterjee, Commissioner/Secretary Industries & Commerce Vikramjeet Singh, MD JKTPO Sudharshan Kumar, CEO CGTMSE Manish Sinha and senior representatives of SIDBI, Punjan National Bank, Canara Bank, Banks of Baroda and Maharashtra besides senior officers from Rajya Sabha.
FCIK delegation led by Shahid Kamili presented a comprehensive memorandum to the visiting Parliamentary Standing Committee highlighting the grave structural, financial and policy challenges confronting industry and MSMEs in Jammu & Kashmir.
FCIK urged the Committee to strongly recommend to the Government of India that the forthcoming UT Industrial Policy, presently under formulation, be backed by adequate Central funding so that incentives are extended to existing, revived, expanding and prospective industrial units on broadly comparable lines with those available under NCSS.
The Federation asserted that sustainable industrialisation cannot be achieved by creating two unequal classes of enterprises in Jammu & Kashmir — one receiving extensive fiscal support and another left to survive without comparable incentives despite facing the same disadvantages of geography, logistics, instability and limited market access.
FCIK emphasized that the existing industrial sector of Jammu & Kashmir has survived decades of disturbances, shutdowns, floods, policy disruptions and economic uncertainty and therefore deserves protection, revival and modernization rather than policy neglect.
The Federation cautioned that continuation of the present imbalance could seriously undermine investor confidence and weaken the huge existing industrial base of the Union Territory.
Besides industrial incentives and policy parity, FCIK strongly projected the need for a comprehensive revival and rehabilitation package for sick and stressed industrial units and proposed creation of a dedicated revival corpus for modernization, rehabilitation and expansion of MSMEs across Jammu & Kashmir.
The Federation also highlighted serious marketing and market-access problems confronting local MSMEs following withdrawal of traditional procurement protections and increasing centralization of procurement through GeM. FCIK demanded restoration of institutional procurement support, particularly in procurement by Central PSUs and agencies, besides stronger implementation of local procurement mechanisms for MSMEs in Jammu & Kashmir.
The issue of delayed payments to MSMEs by Government departments and public agencies was also strongly raised, with FCIK seeking strict enforcement of the MSMED Act and creation of automatic and binding payment enforcement mechanisms.
Special emphasis was laid on the issue of credit flow to MSMEs. FCIK urged banks and financial institutions to adopt a region-sensitive lending framework for Jammu & Kashmir and strongly advocated collateral-free financing for prospective entrepreneurs under CGTMSE and other Government of India schemes.
The Federation pointed out that despite Government guarantee cover under CGTMSE, banks continue to insist upon heavy collateral security, thereby defeating the very objective of the scheme and discouraging first-generation entrepreneurs.
FCIK received an overwhelmingly positive response from the Chairman and members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, who acknowledged the extraordinary difficulties faced by MSMEs in Jammu & Kashmir over the past several decades and assured of their support and intervention with the Government of India for resolution of the issues raised by the Federation.
The Chairman and members of the Committee particularly took note of the fact that the contribution of industry to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Jammu & Kashmir remains around 19 percent as against nearly 30 percent contribution of industry to the national GDP, observing that the disparity itself makes a strong case for focused policy intervention and special measures to accelerate industrial development in the Union Territory.
On the occasion, the Chief Secretary of Jammu & Kashmir made a detailed presentation regarding measures being undertaken by the UT Government for industrial growth and economic development. He informed the Committee that the new industrial policy for Jammu & Kashmir is expected to be finalized within the next two to three months in consultation with stakeholders and that due care is being taken to accommodate the genuine aspirations and concerns of industry.
MD & CEO of J&K Bank Amitva Chaterjee, assisted by CGM Ashutosh Sareen and GM Rakesh Mangotra, made a detailed presentation on credit flow and assured continued support to the industrial sector in Jammu & Kashmir.
Representatives of other banks also made presentations and expressed their willingness to enhance institutional credit flow for industrial development in the Union Territory.
The vote of thanks was presented by Commissioner/Secretary Industries & Commerce Vikramjit Singh.