Gujaratis will encash business opportunities in J&K: minister

Abrogation of Article 370 has created business opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir, and Gujarati businessmen will be among the first to encash them, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya said here on Saturday.

Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers, was speaking on 'Business opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir' at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

"Removal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir has created business opportunities there...The very first pharmaceutical industry to come up there will be by a Gujarati.

"We were the first to start the industry in Baddi in Himachal Pradesh when an opportunity opened up there, and now half the industry there is (run) by Gujaratis," Mandaviya said.

A "conducive environment" was getting created in J&K, he said, adding that not a single bullet had been fired since the Centre's Article 370 move.

"We are basically businessmen, we understand business. Hence we will definitely encash the business opportunity," he said.

Article 370 led to separatism and terrorism in Kashmir, and every "nationalist Indian" wanted it scrapped, he said.

On the Centre's decision to slash corporate tax rates, he said the country now had the "lowest direct tax" globally, which was important for wealth creation.

Durgesh Buch, president, GCCI said, "If the government allows, we want to establish office for trade representatives of Gujarat in Jammu and Kashmir. It will also help people there to know about our businesses.