18 industrial estates being set up in J&K

The Jammu and Kashmir government today said 18 new industrial estates are being set up in the state for development in various districts.
"Eighteen new industrial estates, nine each in Kashmir and Jammu divisions, are being set up for development in various districts of the state," state's Industries and Commerce Minister Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo told reporters here.
He said about 2,523 kanals (over 315 acres) of land valued at about Rs 82 crore in Kashmir division and about 5,637 kanals (over 704 acres) of land valuing about Rs 87 crore in Jammu division is being acquired for this purpose on war- footing basis.

Kichloo said new places identified for developing industrial estates in Kashmir included Vessu in Anantnag district, Ashmuji-Anantnag, Ompora-Budgam, Khanmoh Phase-III, Malwan-Kulgam, Mehmood Abad-Dooru, Redbug-Kupwara and Changrathang-Kargil.
In the Jammu division, the industrial estates are being established in IGC Samba Phase-III, Lamberi-Rajouri, Surankote-Poonch, Beoli-Doda, Nibla-Reasi, Majalta-Udhampur, Heeranagar-Kathua, Dambra-Billawar and Pocchal-Kishtwar, he said.
The Minister said at present there are 53 such estates spread over 4,442 acres of land in various parts of the state, which are managed by SICOP, SIDCO and Directorate of Industries.

While SICOP is primarily promoting Small Scale Industrial Sector by way of providing raw material and marketing support to the entrepreneurs, the SIDCO has been entrusted the job to promote medium and large scale industries, he added.

Kichloo said besides setting up the industrial estates, the existing ones are also being upgraded in a phased manner to provide better infrastructural support to the entrepreneurs adding that upgradation of industrial estates Khanmoh Phase-II and III, Industrial Estate Gangyal and Bari-Brahamna at a cost of Rs 32.57 crore is in full swing.
The Minister said that in order to provide Industrial Infrastructure to Information Technology entrepreneurs of the state, a modern IT Park spread over 150 kanals (over 18 acres) of land in Industrial Estates Ompora is being established shortly for which MOU has already been signed by the SIDCO and IT department.

Similarly, two Biotech parks over 80 kanals (10 acres) of land in Industrial Estates of Ompora Budgam and Ghati Kathua are being set-up very soon to promote technology based industries in the state.