The Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired a meeting to review the measures to be taken for easing the business establishment process in Jammu and Kashmir.Administrative Secretaries of departments of Revenue, Animal/Sheep Husbandry & Fisheries, Power Development Department, Industries & Commerce, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Labour & Employment, and Jal Shakti, besides Secretary, Pollution Control Board (PCB) and concerned HoDs participated in the meeting.It was informed that currently entrepreneurs face various challenges at the pre-establishment stage in acquiring various NOCs and clearances through a cumbersome process which has retarded the growth of industries in Jammu & Kashmir.To ease the business establishment process in J&K, the Industries & Commerce Department proposed a reduction of compliance burden by doing away with certain NOCs, while relaxing several pre-requisite approval/clearances for initial 2 years.Emphasizing the importance of a pro-active engagement by the Industries & Commerce Department, Chief Secretary urged the Department to promptly and proportionately reduce the registration-related documentation required for setting up Red, Orange, Green & White categories of business units inside the designated industrial estates.Chief Secretary also advised the Department to bring a proposal for providing interim permission/provisional registration to entrepreneurs on the basis of a few essential clearances including ‘consent to establish’ from the Pollution Control Board, whereas the rest can be obtained within a period of 2 years. Additionally, PCB was also asked to enhance the validity of ‘consent to establish’ from the existing 1 year to 3 years.Further, Chief Secretary asked the I&C Department to nominate SIDCO as the Nodal Agency for grant of permissions related to electricity, water, sewerage connections to the units being established inside industrial estates. For a periodic review of grant of these permissions, a committee chaired by the General Manager, District Industries Centre and respective Manager Estates, SIDCO was asked to be put in place.The Department was also advised to evaluate the establishment of ‘J&K Enterprise Promotion Board’ under the Chairmanship of Administrative Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department to further review the issues pertaining to the establishment of Industries in Jammu & Kashmir.
