Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Mar 10: The process of establishing an information technology hub in Sampora area on the city outskirts has begun with the transfer of around 30-Kanal of land to Jammu Kashmir Information Technology Development Corporation (JKITDC) for building a “twin tower”.
The Government has used the 300-kanals of land, which was identified for the setting up of International Trade Centre in 2005, for the IT-Park. “To begin with, two towers will be built on 30-kanals of land that has been transferred to Jammu Kashmir Information Technology Development Corporation (JKITDC). Let’s see the response of the entrepreneurs. The other things will follow”, Director of the Industries and Commerce Department, Nazim Zai Khan, told Daily Excelsior.
Earlier, he said, the Government directed them to take over the land for the creating Information Technology hub. “We took over the land on the direction of the Government which wants to develop the place as an IT-hub,” he said, adding that the work on the towers will begin soon.
He added that the process for talking over the remaining land is underway. “The Government will allot the land to SIDCO, SICOP, or JKTDC,” he said.
With an aim to encourage entrepreneurship among technically trained youth of Jammu and Kashmir, the department decided to set up IT- parks in both regions. As per the department, the IT-parks would have an IT tower/ BPOs/ extended infrastructure and also residential quarters for the employees. “We expect the project to give a boost to employment opportunities in J&K, both to locals and to youth from other parts of the country,” an official said, adding that the UT-administration has set a deadline of 17-months for the completion of the project.
He added facilities at the towers will include, Raw Incubation space; Raw Office space; Plug and Play; Data room; Conference hall; Finishing school; Work-station; Cafeteria; Gymnasium/yoga room; Electrical room; HVAC, BMS,CCTV, Fire-fighting; Parking, STP, Sub-station; Landscaping & Horticulture.
However, many saffron growers, artisans, and locals expressed dejection over the shelving of the ITC for as they had serious hopes pinned on the project. “It would have given international exposure to our trade. Right now we have to sell it to the dealers in Delhi or Bangalore who then sell it in the international market,” Manzoor Ahmad, a Saffron exporter, said. With ITC, Manzoor said the farmers would have been able to sell their produce directly to the international customers with no intermediate person, who could fetch them, more money and boost their morale.
In 2005, the then Government embarked on an ambitious project of setting up International Trade Centre in Pampore town of South Kashmir and identified a sprawling 378 Kanals of land. The project was expected to provide impetus to the imbecile business setup of Kashmir by boosting the trading activities and was believed to accumulate all major business firms and corporate offices within one center.
The idea was to expose local traders and trades–handicraft items and agricultural products like Saffron–to international markets. In 2007, then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, along with then Union Minister of Trade and Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, laid the foundation stone of ITC at Pampore with a grant of Rs 29 crores to the project.
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