New Scheme for industrial development of J&K:

                                       2 committees to approve registration of units till March 31, 2025

Jammu, April 5, 2021: The Government of India has unveiled operational guidelines for registration of units under the new central sector scheme for industrial development of Jammu & Kashmir.

According to the guidelines, registration of units under the scheme shall commence from April 1, 2021 and will continue till September 30, 2024. “All application for registration shall be disposed of by 31.03.2025 unless otherwise extended,” reads the guidelines.

Those willing to avail incentive(s) under the scheme have to apply for registration through online portal (jknis.dipp.gov.in) along with detailed project report, land documents bank loan sanction letter and other documents.

According to the guidelines, no unit will have the right to register under this scheme or claim the benefits unless it is specifically approved by the registering authority.

As per the scheme, two committees have been designated for approval of grant of registration of the unit under the scheme.

The secretary-level committee will approve registration of units in which plant/ machinery / building and other durable assets are up to Rs 500 crore.

Headed by Administrative Secretary, Industries and Commerce department, the committee comprises of Director Industries & Commerce Jammu, Director Industries & Commerce Kashmir, Managing Director Jammu & Kashmir Development Finance Corporation Limited, Director Planning Industries and Commerce department, Director Finance, Industries and Commerce department and a representative from the concerned administrative department not below the rank of additional secretary (in case of service sector units).

As per the scheme guidelines, another committee headed by J&K’s chief secretary will be the competent authority to approve registration of units in which investment is more than Rs 500 crore.

The other members of the committee include Administrative Secretary, Industries and Commerce department, Administrative Secretary of the concerned department (in case of social service units), Director Industries & Commerce Jammu, Director Industries &  Commerce Kashmir and Managing Director Jammu & Kashmir Development Finance Corporation Limited.

Under the guidelines, heritage property which is not in use before April 1, 2021 but is restored thereafter for commercial or hospitality or tourism services on commercial basis will also be considered as new unit.

As per guidelines, heritage property under the scheme shall include those monuments notified by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as well as those by the J&K Government under Ancient Monuments Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2010 and The Jammu & Kashmir Heritage Conservation and Preservation Act, 2010.

It will also include those heritage properties recognized by agencies like UNESCO, INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) etc.

The other conditions for registration of heritage properties under the scheme is that their restoration/conservation/preservation should have been done on the basis of a conservation plan prepared/vetted by INTACH, J&K or a qualified conservation body. duly notified by the Union Territory.

It is worthwhile to mention that the scheme was notified by the Central government on February 19, 2021 to bring about radical transformation in the existing industrial ecosystem of J&K, which will enable it to compete with other leading industrially developed States/ UTs.

The scheme involves financial outlay of Rs 28,400 crore—(KNO)