Jammu & Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir, one of India’s most beautiful states, lies in the extreme north of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of the state’s economy as 80% of the population is depended on it. Jammu and Kashmir has a land area of 222.236 Sq.Km and a population of 7.7 million. The Inflation Rate is 10.8%.
There are a number of new incentives to some industries, other than tourism. J&K has the lowest power tariff in the country and high rate of growth in generation. The law and situation has resulted in slow development of the state. The connection with the rest of the country, especially through railways and telecommunications, is relatively poor. The urbanization process too has been slow. The Per Capita Income of Jammu and Kashmir is Rs.4,244.
Incentives:
5-year Central tax holiday for all new industrial units in the state
30% capital investment subsidy (up to Rs 3,000,000) for all new industrial units in the state
Outright investment subsidy of Rs 6,000,000 for new units investing Rs 25 crore or more
5% rebate (up to Rs 1,000,000 per year) on interest on working capital loans for new units
60% subsidy (up to Rs 50,000) on insurance of new projects in the Category B area
Sales tax exemption until March 31, 2000 for small-scale units
50% rebate on the cost of training managers and executives in the tourism industry
Stamp duty exemption on mortgage deeds in favor of state FIs/scheduled commercial banks
Introduction
In its meeting held on 23 January 04, the state cabinet accorded approval to its path breaking Industrial Policy 2004. With a view to give stability to the policy, it was decided that the Industrial Policy 2004 shall remain valid until March 31, 2015 when it will be reviewed. The cabinet emphasized on the need to promote local employment in industrial units of the state. If specific skills are not available in the state, special training will be organized to train local youth in such skills. Ensuring maximum local employment in industrial units will form a condition of approval for any new industrial units. The cabinet also laid great stress on ensuring that the incentives and subsidies reached the genuine industrialists without much loss of time.
Some new elements of the Industrial Policy 2004 are:
Developing world class infrastructure is essential for speedy industrial development. The policy lays emphasis on inviting private sector to participate in infrastructure development. Such private sector activities will be considered as ‘industry’ for the purpose of incentives.
With a view to encourage industrialization of the backward blocks of the state, the Capital Investment Subsidy (CIS) under state’s incentive package shall be extended to these blocks. The CIS of the state is more attractive in that the rate of subsidy is 30% subject to a limit of Rs. 30 lakhs and the definition of investment is more comprehensive.
In this age of competition, it is necessary for the existing industrial units to modernize themselves to be able to compete with cheaper imports and also with more modern units. To encourage existing industrial units to modernize, the industrial policy provides for extending the state CIS to such units.
