Jammu Tawi: Lalit Mahajan, Chairman of the Federation of Industries Jammu (FOIJ), has appealed to the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Lt. Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, and Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, to address the grave concerns of existing industrial units in Jammu and Kashmir. These units, Mahajan warns, are facing significant hardships due to the dilution of fiscal incentives following the abrogation of Article 370, which may lead to the closure of thousands of industrial units and massive retrenchment of workers.
Mahajan highlighted that since the abrogation of Article 370, the fiscal incentives allocated to industrial units have been drastically reduced, from approximately Rs. 1,800 crores per annum to around Rs. 500 crores, due to unrealistic projections made by the UT administration. He pointed out that despite facing numerous challenges such as limited market avenues, high raw material costs, and stiff competition from neighboring states, the industrial units in Jammu & Kashmir have continued to operate and provide direct and indirect employment to around four lakh people, comparable to the number of state government employees.
The Federation of Industries Jammu expressed dissatisfaction with the Central Package of Incentives 2021, which provides fiscal incentives primarily for new industrial units established after April 2021, but does not extend GST reimbursement to existing working units. This exclusion has caused significant resentment among existing industries, many of which are owned by local entrepreneurs from Jammu & Kashmir. Mahajan has called for the following measures to ensure the survival of existing working industrial units: Turnover Incentive: Granting incentives based on actual turnover without any capping.
GST Reimbursement: Reimbursement of gross GST linked incentives (IGST/CGST/SGST) for existing working units. Interest Subvention: Providing interest subvention on working capital loans on an actual basis. Mahajan has urged the central and state leaders to intervene promptly to allocate fiscal incentives to the existing units and extend support for their survival, ensuring they remain viable and continue contributing to the local economy.
