Jammu, Feb 03: The President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Javed Ahmad Tenga called on Lt. Governor, Manoj Sinha, at Jammu on Friday as a follow up on various issues raised with him in earlier meetings. The issues discussed were:
Renewal of Tourism Registration Licenses of Hotels /Restaurants / Houseboats etc under Single Window System in the spirit of ease of doing business. Presently the renewals take months and years because of the cumbersome process of obtaining NOCS from multiple departments.
Permission for repairs, renovation & reconstruction of hotels in Pahalgam/Gulmarg/Sonmarg/LCMA and other areas.
Implementation of policies for industries in letter and spirit. The suffering local industry needs to be provided a cushion by allocation of quota for locally produced items. There is also a need to implement ease of doing business and Single Window System for growth and development of industry which will go a long way in addressing the growing unemployment problem in the state. Removal of capping on additional assistance for Capex Budget.
KCCI participation in major international trade fairs for growth and promotion of Kashmir products and GI tagged Pashmina, Carpets and other GI Certified items for growth and promotion of handicrafts and boast exports.
Amnesty of commercial power consumers on the analogy of amnesty granted to domestic consumers. In the meantime stop coercive action against consumers. The amnesty would enable the department to recover arrears and the consumers who are willing to pay feel relieved of the mental agony.
Expansion of Srinagar Airport in view of growing tourism arrivals. The present infrastructure is equipped to handle arrival and departures causing huge inconvenience to travellers. Furthermore, there is shortage of food and beverages vending joints though large spaces remain non-utilized. Earlier chains like KFC and Pizza Hut were operational but have been closed. A huge 300 sq meter area is also lying vacant. The shortage of food joints causes huge inconvenience to travelers especially children , women and elderly.
There is an urgent need for announcement of another One Time Settlement Scheme (OTS) with higher cap and longer duration. It will be beneficial both for J&K Bank which will recover the money and the borrowers to regularize their accounts.
The Hon’ble Lt. Governor assured KCCI President that the points raised by KCC&I are under serious consideration of the administration and will get resolved soon including the Power Amnesty / OTS Scheme at a faster pace. The President KCC&I expressed gratitude to the Lt. Governor for his time and kind consideration. The President KCC&I was accompanied by Senior Vice President Ashaq Hussain Shangloo & Treasurer Zubair Mahajan.
