Amend law for transferring pvt land to outside investors: FOIJ

Amend law for transferring pvt land to outside investors: FOIJ

A Jammu-based body of industrialists has sought an amendment to a land revenue law for transfer of non-agricultural private land to prospective investors from outside Jammu and Kashmir to set up their units in the union territory.

The Federation of Industries (FOI), Jammu, raised the demand in a memorandum, which was submitted by its delegation to Union Home Minister Amit Shah here, its co-chairman Lalit Mahajan said in a statement on Monday.

“We requested the home minister for the necessary amendment in the Land Revenue Act, 1962, on priority basis for the transfer of non-agricultural private land for industrial purpose on free hold basis, enabling the prospective unit holders to purchase the non-agriculture land for setting up their units in a time-bound manner,” Mahajan, who along with FOI chairman Ratan Dogra met Shah, said.

Shah is on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir and Monday was the third day of his tour of the Union territory.

Thanking the Narendra Modi-led government for granting fiscal incentives for the industrial sector in Jammu and Kashmir, the delegation termed it as the beginning of a new era of development and industrialisation.

“We are hopeful that industrialisation will achieve a new height in the coming days in J&K to provide employment opportunities to the local youths as well as overall growth in the economy as we are expecting huge investment in the industrial sector of J&K on the basis of Rs 28,400 crore Central Industrial Package,” the statement said.

Mahajan, however, said prospective investors from outside Jammu and Kashmir, who are in the process of setting up of big industrial units, could face issues due to non-availability of developed industrial land and in respect to non-agriculture private land, which is not transferable to outside investors according to the present land revenue law.

The other issues related to the industrial sector highlighted in the memorandum include compulsory purchase by central government and Jammu and Kashmir government departments from Local Small Scale Industry (LSSI) units, establishment of mother industry in Jammu and Kashmir and reimbursement of road freight for tdispatch of industrial goods to domestic market as well as for export from J&K.

The FOI also demanded setting up of export promotion industrial parks, extension of 300 per cent reimbursement of gross GST incentive to MSME units for substantial expansion under the industrial development scheme, free hold rights of SIDCO and SICOP land to existing unit holders and increase of custom duty on walnut kernels to provide a level playing field to local manufacturers.