Govt opens land for ‘Private Industrial Estate Development’

Jammu To give further impetus to the industrial sector after having announced several policies and initiatives, Jammu and Kashmir has now opened up its land for private sector in the newly announced ‘Private Industrial Estate Development Policy 2021-30’. The rules have also been notified.

Talking to The News Now, Ranjan Prakash Thakur, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department says, “We have already attracted Rs.25,000 Crores of investment, and it is expected to reach Rs.50,000 Crores in this fiscal year. This would require more land to be made available to the investors who shall be setting up their units here. The government doesn’t have land bank of this large scale, so we have opened it to the private sector.”

He adds, “This would attract more investment, especially by large industries. Additionally, it would expedite and simplify the process of developing industrial estates and setting up of units, when we know the government processes are lengthy. The government shall provide road, water and electricity at the doorstep of private industrial estate, while the investor has to acquire and come up with a private land bank. The government shall also provide incentive of upto Rs 20 Crores or 20% of the investment made to provide common facilities.”

As per the rules, Industrial Parks set up on private land shall be entitled to Capital Infrastructure Subsidy of the cost incurred for the development of common industrial infrastructure & utilities such as common effluent treatment plant, working men and women hostels, testing centres, diagnostics labs and R&D centres for health care, tool rooms, recreational facilities or any other common industrial / social infrastructure development activity duly approved by the government. The rate for the Capital Infrastructure Subsidy shall be:
For investment upto Rs.25 Crore: 20% & 30% subject to maximum of Rs.5.00 Crore & Rs.7.50 Crore for areas in Zone A & B respectively.

For investment above Rs.25 Crore: a) 20% of the cost incurred with minimum subsidy of Rs.5.00 Crore and maximum subsidy of Rs.20.00 Crore. This shall be determined on the principle of additional subsidy of Rs1.00 Crore for addition of each acre of land over the minimum 5 acre in Zone A; b) 30% of the cost incurred with minimum subsidy of Rs.7.50 Crore and maximum subsidy of Rs.30.00 Crore. This shall be determined on the principle of additional subsidy of Rs.1.50 Crore for addition of each acre of land over the minimum 5 in Zone B; c) For IT sector, the applicable rate shall, however, be uniformly @ 20% & 30% subject to maximum of Rs.20.00 Crore & Rs.30.00 Crore for areas in Zone A & B respectively.

The subsidy shall be disbursed after the date of operation of such Industrial Estates/Parks.

Pertinently, Jammu and Kashmir announced its first Industrial Policy in 1995 and substituted it by another policy in 1998. The first detailed and comprehensive Industrial Policy was announced in the year 2004 which was followed by Industrial Policy of 2016. These policies provided the basic mechanism of Industrial Land Allotment along with development of Private Industrial Estates. However, the desired results remained unaccomplished. Hence, the government came up with an elaborate Industrial Land Allotment Policy.

“Likewise, as a sequel, framework for development of Private Industrial Infrastructure requires to be detailed for attracting large industrial investments in the private sector, for which this policy has been formulated to complement the efforts of industrialization.”

J&K Private Industrial Estate Development Policy, 2021-30 was accorded approval by the Administrative Council on August 14, 2021.

The policy shall remain in operation for ten years from the date of its adoption. However, it will be reviewed time to time based on feedback from stakeholders. It envisages development of private industrial estates on Public Private Partnership and revenue sharing model.

The Applicant intending to set up a Private Industrial Estate/Park, must submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) online along with the application. The Detailed Project Report shall comprise of: Promoter’s background including qualification and experience; Title documents of the land area applied for and tentative break-up of possible areas; Plan Layout; Implementation Schedule; Total investment detail including investment in Technical and Non-Technical Civil work, Requirement of Working Capital; Sources of Finance for the Project; Projected Employment details; Power requirement; Water requirement; Balance Sheets for the last three years of the Applicant Company / Promoters with necessary Resolutions, IT Returns and documents concerning financial /technical support, if applicable; The land documents depending on types of organization viz. Proprietorship, Partnership, Trust, Private / Public Limited Company, etc. along with certified copy of the Partnership Deed, Memorandum and Article of Association and relevant documents, as applicable; An undertaking that the estate shall strictly be use for industrial activity and in case of failure the estate shall be subject to management and regulation by the Industrial Development Corporation.

Private Promoters shall be allowed and encouraged to develop Private Industrial Estates/Parks on commercial lines on activity specific cluster basis over an area of at least 5 Acres. In case of IT/ITeS parks, the minimum requirement will be 2 Acres for housing IT units in flatted accommodation.

All the applications received shall be scrutinized (on technical and financial criteria) by the Divisional Level Evaluation Committee. The timeline for screening shall be 07 days, after which the case shall be submitted to Project Clearance Committee for detailed review and recommendations. The Project Clearance Committee shall decide the case within 30 days.Once approved, the Director Industries and Commerce, concerned shall immediately issue Private Industrial Estate Provisional Certificate to the applicant.

“The promoter would be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facilities created within the estate following the bench-mark standards laid down by the Government,” rules read.

In case, the promoter fails to develop the industrial estate within two years of issuance of the provisional certificate, or deviates from the allowed activities to be carried in an industrial estate, after the issuance of Provisional Certificate and necessary government infrastructure has been provided, the land shall be subject to further development by the Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCO) who shall maintain and regulate it like other industrial estates of the Corporation.

In such case, a revenue sharing agreement may be executed between the owner and the Industrial Development Corporation.