India’s federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir plans to attract investments worth up to $4 billion in the next two to three years and would provide security to businesses setting up shop in the insurgency-hit region, its chief said on Saturday.Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was India’s only Muslim-majority state until August 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi carved out a Buddhist-dominated enclave and designated both as federally-administered territories.Tens of thousands of security forces guard the region where India has been fighting an armed-insurgency for decades, especially in the disputed Kashmir valley that is also claimed by Pakistan.
J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said his administration was identifying 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of land for businesses and that they would make companies feel secure.”We have an annual budget of 1 trillion rupees ($13.68 billion) for the region and a good amount of that is being used for providing security for businesses,” Sinha told a group of journalists in New Delhi.The government was also working on organising an investment summit there after a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, he said.”We are in touch with all big business houses,” he said.
J&K is one of India’s least industrialized regions, with per capita income of 62,145 rupees in 2016/2017, lower than the national average of 82,229 rupees but higher than several other states.The government enforced the changes in the region through a harsh crackdown, deploying thousands of additional troops, imposing a communication blackout and detaining scores of people.
