To instil confidence and familiarise with “growing conducive situation in J&K for investments”, delegates representing 33 companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia have arrived in Srinagar to turn ₹3,000 crores memorandums of understanding (MoUs), signed earlier this year, into a reality.
Officials said the delegates will attend the “Gulf Business Summit” on March 22 and discuss exploring investment opportunities in J&K in different sectors.
Top-level officials of these UAE–based companies, which included the Roya International Group, Al–Tayer Group, Intercontinental Dubai, Hanadi Trading Est. Promoter, Al–Hashemi Group, Rawaaj Partner Representative of the Rulers Office in Abu Dhabi, Al Mal Capital etc., on Monday visited Pari Mahal near the Dal lake in Srinagar.
Ayman Abdulrahman S Alhilali, CEO of Alpha Sky from Saudi Arabia, is also participating. This is for the first time an investor from Saudi Arabia has shown interest in J&K. Officials said these delegates are slated to travel to different destinations in north, south and central Kashmir in the next two days.
“We are not holding them back. This is an attempt to dissipate the notion of Kashmir being an unsafe place. We want the potential investors to see for themselves the beautiful place where they intend to put their money. This will end the misconception about Kashmir and bring out the true story,” Ranjan Prakash Thakur, Principal Secretary, J&K Industries and Commerce, told The Hindu, in an interview. “They need to see the fact this is a different place from 2019. Money will follow once they like the place,” he said.
The J&K government had signed the MoUs in January with the UAE–based companies, including industrial giants like Emaar, Lulu, MATU Investments, Al Maya Group, GL Employment Brokerage LLC, Century Financial, IT giant Noon e–commerce etc. Around 16,000 kanals (1,999.9 acres) land bank has already been opened for investments in Kashmir.
“J&K had signed MoUs with big companies like Emaar, Lulu etc. We now eye on money flow. The paperwork has already been completed,” Mr. Thakur said.
The government has already established a round–the–year airlink of J&K with the UAE and is planning an airlink expansion to Saudi Arabia. This is to increase the exports of goods from J&K, as the government has decided to open up Jammu for large productions and limit investments in Kashmir to real estates, agriculture, handicrafts, horticulture, tourism, food processing, Information Technology and medical colleges.
“There are already big label companies ready to invest in healthcare, IT and tourism. More private investment will come in tourist places like Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonmarg where we need more hotels. At present, all rooms are booked in the Valley. There is a generation in the country that has not seen Kashmir in the past 30 years,” Mr. Thakur said.
South Kashmir’s Pulwama and Pampore are emerging as the main spots for investors, where over 5,000 kanals of land will be offered.
“We are not acquiring people’s land. We are offering only the government land. The change in land laws will also allow locals take a call on land use,” Mr. Thakur said.
He said the industrialisation and its economic benefits need to be reaped by locals. “All are invited equally to invest in J&K.”
Strong demand from Riyadh
After the UAE, the J&K government is eyeing to rope in investors from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the countries that appreciated the efforts of the Centre in J&K after the reading down of Article 370 in 2019.
“A strong demand has come from Saudi Arabia to pursue it. Now that the COVID is over, we are looking at that part also. This is a huge geostrategic measure. We have to create the condition that investment is safe. We will also attract investments from Qatar,” Mr. Thakur.
Unlike the Muslim countries in West Asia, the Western countries have shown reluctance to invest in J&K so far and have put pressure on New Delhi “to restore democratic processes in J&K”. In fact, the visits arranged for the delegations of diplomats from the European Union, the U.S. and Britain to assess the post–August 5 situation in J&K could not yield any favorable results.
With many Muslim countries coming forward, the government sees it as a gamechanger in perception management. “We are hopeful the summit in Srinagar on March 22 will open gates for Western world to come in too,” Mr. Thakur.
