JAMMU, Mar 28: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today that both law and order situation and policy interventions are worth investing in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the industrialists should take note of it while Union Minister of Road, Transport and National Highways Nitin Gadkari announced that Z-Morh tunnel on Srinagar-Leh National Highway will be inaugurated next month and work on Asia’s longest tunnel at Zojila is likely to be completed in 2024.Both the Union Ministers were speaking at the industry body ASSOCHAM’s annual session in New Delhi.Gadkari, as exclusively reported by the Excelsior recently, will be inspecting Zojila tunnel on April 10 during his visit to the Union Territory of Ladakh while he will visit Banihal along Jammu-Srinagar National Highway the next day.“Law and order situation as well as policy interventions are worth investing in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” Shah said and called upon the industrialists to take note of it.“Industrialists should choose the region for investment according to their market strategy and keeping their business interest in mind. I have no issue wherever you invest as long as it benefits the country. But I must say that both policy and law and order are worth investing in Jammu and Kashmir, and you must consider this,” said Shah, in response to a query by an industrialist.Only a day before, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Amit Shah had stated in the Parliament that private investments in Jammu and Kashmir which were Rs 64058 crore in December 2022 have now gone up to Rs 66,000 crore while 129 units have started working on ground and 350 others have come into production after announcement of New Industrial Policy for the Union Territory.“As many as 560 units have signed lease deed and taken over possession of the land allotted to them while 129 units have started working on ground. In addition, 250 existing units have also come into production after announcement of the New Industrial Policy,” the Home Ministry said.Addressing the same function, Union Minister for Road, Transport and National Highways announced that 6.5 kilometres Z-Morh tunnel on Srinagar-Leh National Highway will be inaugurated next month.“Work on Asia’s longest tunnel in Zojila, also falling on Srinagar-Leh National Highway, is likely to be completed in 2024,” Gadkari said.Earlier, the deadline for completion of Zojila tunnel which will link the Union Territory of Ladakh with rest of the country by road round-the year had been fixed as 2026. However, it has now been advanced to 2024.“The Road, Transport and Highways Ministry is constructing nine tunnels between Jammu and Kashmir,” Gadkari said, adding that Z-Morh tunnel in Sonamarg will be inaugurated in April.The Union Minister is likely to inaugurate the tunnel on April 10 during his visit to Ladakh.The 6.5 km Z-Morh tunnel between Gagangir and Sonamarg on the Srinagar-Leh highway will provide connectivity round-the-year.“We are also building Asia’s longest tunnel at Zojila. 65-70 per cent of work on the Zojila tunnel has been completed and it will be inaugurated in 2024,” Gadkari said.The 13.5-km Zojila tunnel, being built for Rs 4,900 crore, when ready, will play a key role in making the road (NH1) connecting Srinagar with Leh an all-weather one.The original deadline for the 11,000-foot high project is December 2026.At present, the road remains closed for vehicular traffic after the winter sets in as the area sees heavy snowfall.In his address, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also said that India would become a USD five trillion economy by 2025.He also expressed confidence that by December 2023, the 5G rollout will be fully completed across the country.Shah spoke about logistics costs in India and reiterated how the Government is trying to reduce them to 7.5 per cent from 13 per cent by 2028.Speaking about India’s massive digital payments ecosystem, he said UPI-based payments are accepted even by a street-side vendor.The Home Minister said that today over 50 per cent of the total digital transactions in the country are done through UPI mode.“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched digital transaction, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had criticized that how a vegetable seller would take money online… Today, people even in remotest villages of India make digital transactions,” he said.
