Post the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, a number of countries including the UK, Japan, the UAE and other Middle-East nations have expressed desire in investing in the now Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir reports the Daily Excelsior.

As the Indian Government braced up for Investors Summit in Jammu and Kashmir in May, it has decided to separate establishment of industrial units in the entire UT instead of restricting them to capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar as this will assist people in far-flung areas, the report states.

Excelsior quoting Government officials writes that there has been a very promising response to the Investors Summit in Jammu and Kashmir in many foreign countries and the Government has already started receiving expression of interest from many nations including the UAE, UK, England, Singapore, Japan and others from the Middle East and South-East Asia.

“All such offers are being examined and acknowledged appropriately,” sources said, adding the Government officials will shortly meet Ambassadors of the countries who have displayed an interest in investments in Jammu and Kashmir.

MK Dwivedi, the Commissioner/Secretary, Industries and Commerce, confirmed the expression of interest by the foreign nations for investments in Jammu and Kashmir saying they were evaluating all the proposals and will shortly meet ambassadors of these nations.

“We intend to spread investment to different districts of the Union Territory and not confine them to the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar alone to ensure that benefits of investments like job opportunities for the youth reach every part of the UT,” Dwivedi said.

According to sources, the Jammu and Kashmir Government was expecting Expression of Interest in the investments in the Union Territory amounting to Rs 50,000 crore but might filter them and confine the proposals between Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore initially as it would require a lot of infrastructure development to meet requirements of the industrialists.

“The Government would prefer good investments in J&K. For instance, the investments which are not environment-friendly might not be accepted. Further, it would segregate the units depending on the availability of resources in the districts.

For instance, the food processing units could be shifted to Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu region and Baramulla and Kupwara districts in Kashmir. Similar would be the criteria for offering land to the industries in other parts of the Union Territory,” sources said.

They added that the Jammu and Kashmir Government representatives will be holding roadshows in Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad up to the first week of March to attract investments from these States which will be followed by mini-conclaves separately in Jammu and Srinagar for the local industrialists, who want to collaborate with the investors from outside.

The Government, according to sources, has created a land bank of 6000 acres in Jammu and Kashmir for investment purposes. Of this, about 4000 acres of land has been identified in the Jammu region and around 2000 acres in Kashmir. “The land bank will be increased with the increase in demand,” they said.