“The State Government is in process of formulating the new industrial Policy for the state and will notify the same soon with lot of incentives for small and medium industry in the state”, shared Mr Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Financial Commissioner, Department of Industry & Commerce, Government of J&K while addressing a Session on “Growth Drivers for J&K: MSMEs” organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) J&K State council alongside its annual Session 2014-15.

 Mr. Ganai described the key features of the existing J&K industrial policy to the audience. He said that the State and the Central Governments are providing various incentives to the industry like capital investment, interest, freight and Insurance subsidies etc. He said that youth of the state should take the benefit of these incentives and become entrepreneurs by setting up new industrial units.

Mr Ganai said that in addition to the existing incentives for the industry in J&K, the new industrial policy will provide additional benefits to the industrial units proposed to be set up in the industrially backward districts of the State.

Mr. Ganai added that topic “Session on Growth Drivers for J&K: MSMEs” is of paramount importance and relevance for all stakeholders since MSMEs are the backbone of any economy.

Mr Ganai also stressed upon the need for implementing the Ease of doing Business programme for making Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative successful. He stated that the officers in the I&C Department are being sensitized towards ensuring ‘Ease of doing Business. He further stated that other Departments in the State Government have also to take a number of steps for simplification of procedures, amendments of laws and rules and introduction of e-Governance and online services pertaining to their departments for ‘Ease of doing Business.

Mr. Ganai lauded the role of CII and said that since its inception, the CII has vastly extended its activities to all important fields connected with the industrial growth in the country, ranging from policy formulation, policy research and palliation.

Mr. Ganai referred to the constitution of the two Committees namely the Apex Committee headed by the Chief Secretary and the Monitoring Committee headed by Financial Commissioner (I&C). He informed that a meeting of the Apex Committee will be held soon where various departmental Secretaries will be present and that one meeting of the Monitoring Committee had already been held. He expressed the hope that both the Committees will work towards the fulfillment of the objectives of ‘Ease of doing Business programme’. Mr.Ganai  also referred to the initiatives taken by the DIPP for ease of doing business and the circular instructions issued by them to all the State Govts.

Mr Zubin Irani, Chairman, CII Northern Region & President, Building and Industrial Systems (India), United Technologies Corporation India Pvt Ltd. who was also present at the session said that Jammu & Kashmir is dotted with MSMEs. MSMEs are also a very important constituency for CII comprising almost 70% of its membership nationally and a much higher percentage 86% within the northern region. He said that CII has a two pronged strategy to address the challenges faced by the MSMEs – one is to focus on policy related issues and the other is directly working with MSMEs for enhancing their competitiveness.

He apprised the audience about CII AVANTHA Center for Competitiveness at Chandigarh, that is Center of Excellence for MSMEs, work with MSMEs to enhance their Competitiveness through energy audits, cluster programmes, corrosion to name a few.

He further shared that the state should identify the thrust areas and prepare forward looking sectoral policies with suitable infrastructure in place for some specific sectors like  tourism, hydro energy, food processing and IT.

Earlier Mr Chander Prakash Gupta, newly elected Chairman of CII J&K State Council welcomed the gathering. Mr Sheikh Imran, Vice Chairman CII J&K State Council Presented formal vote of thanks.

The Session was well attended by people from Industry, Senior Faculty & Students of top management schools of the state.