The Central and the State Government both are seized of promoting industries in the State as a dependable means of overcoming the problem of unemployment among the educated youth of the State. But industries are not developed in vacuum; there are some pre-requisites that have to be provided before expecting industries to be capable of absorbing workers profitably. Land, labour, capital and organization are the fundamental requirements. It is here that the Governments need to step in. Its role in facilitating establishment of industries is crucial. We shall deal with item number three viz., capital. Generally speaking, entrepreneurs are not able to make full investment in a given industry by themselves. Therefore the banks step in and provide monetary facility albeit with the concurrence of the Government. Huge loans are provided under a well established banking system. Once the industry begins to become productive, the Government again steps in and imposes duty on finished goods that are marketed. This is called industrial duty and it is a big source of revenue for the Government.
For geographical, economic and other reasons, our State has lagged behind in the development of industries. We have not exploited our sources of raw material to make respective industries viable. We lacked technical and skilled manpower and we have had little management expertise in the field of industries. Now that we have been the beneficiary of national development ventures, it is time that we can and should focus on developing and expanding our industrial enterprise. Aware of the constraints that stood in the way of our industrial enterprises, the Union Finance Ministry had on 14 November 2002 notified that the State of Jammu and Kashmir would under substantial expansion scheme avail of excise duty exemption for a period of ten years. This notification came as a big relief to the State industrial units and industrialists expressed their happiness and thanks to the Government. After the expiry of the date up to which exemption remained valid, the local branch of the Central Excise Department imposed excise duty under rules on our industries. This happened despite the second substantial expansion scheme being floated by the Union Ministry of Finance. Naturally, the industrialists were affected and they demanded that exemption from paying stipulated duty should continue as was in practice since 2002. Ten years is not a very big time frame for any industry to attain optimum of production. Thus a stalemate of sorts ensued; neither the State branch of Central Excise Department was prepared to relent nor were the industrialists in a position to pay the duty and as a consequence weaken the financial base of their industries.
In modern democratic societies, industrial and corporate segments play important role in shaping and streamlining the plans and programmes set forth by political parties for the progress of the country. Naturally J&K industrial magnates sought the goodwill of political leadership to resolve the logjam with the Union Excise Department. We are happy that the Union Finance Ministry has in a clear and unambiguous decision said that the industries of J&K would be exempted from paying duty under second substantial expansion scheme. This sets at rest all the controversy about the issue dogging the stakeholders for quite some time. With this order made effective, we expect the industries in the state develop and grow so as to provide employment opportunities to youth of the State. We are aware that there is vast scope of expanding existing industries and opening new units in other fields. Although new enterprises take time to grow and stabilize, yet the beginning has to be made somewhere. Particularly in Kashmir valley, industrial culture has to be given a big boost and hurdles in the way if any have to be removed. We believe that with the completion of railway project now underway, entire Jammu and Kashmir will enter a new and unprecedented phase of industrial development. Rapid and uninterrupted transport of raw material and finished products has been the bane of industrial growth in the State. That is now an old story belonging to the past. The State is well poised to move forward and enter the modern era of industrialization.
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