Jaammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government is open to additional policy changes to create a stable, predictable policy ecosystem for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and emerging technologies, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo said on Friday.
Dulloo asserted that the government seeks to position the Union Territory as a competitive destination for future-oriented businesses.
Addressing a two-day workshop on GCCs, Dulloo said the government aimed to develop a clear roadmap to attract investment, generate employment, and strengthen the technology ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
“If it is felt necessary that for this segment, like GCC and emerging technologies, we need some additional legislation, the government will definitely consider how to make a permanent policy ecosystem available, so that the issue of predictability does not arise again”, he told industry players at the GCC here.
He said the existing single-window system facilitates principal approvals required for setting up GCCs, while the government would continue to improve the predictability and timelines of these processes.
“Jammu and Srinagar have industrial estates and IT space, and the government would work to meet industry requirements regarding locations, floor space, infrastructure specifications and timelines”, he said.
Dulloo said a Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence had recently been established in partnership with IIT Jammu, with approval from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. An IT and future technologies park is also being developed in three phases, with work on the first phase already started, he added.
Referring to the draft GCC policy, the chief secretary said it offered an opportunity to incorporate practical industry experience and lessons from other GCC destinations instead of adopting a purely theoretical framework.
He said the policy should support investment and employment while remaining aligned with Jammu and Kashmir’s sustainable development requirements.
He urged industry representatives to provide frank feedback on Jammu and Kashmir’s strengths and the gaps that could influence corporate boards’ decisions on locating their GCCs in the Union Territory.
Describing the summit as the beginning of sustained government-industry engagement, Dulloo said the administration was ready to listen, learn and adapt to industry requirements to make J&K genuinely ready for GCCs.
He said GCCs were evolving from conventional support centres into enterprise value-creation hubs and, increasingly, innovation hubs, with artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies playing a crucial role in shaping their future.
J&K must overcome land, infrastructure hurdles to attract GCCs: ACS Ashwani Kumar
Jammu and Kashmir must address land availability, infrastructure, and social attitudes to attract Global Capability Centres (GCCs), Additional Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar said on Friday, stressing that businesses invest where they find a conducive environment to operate profitably.
Addressing a workshop on GCCs in Jammu, Kumar said the region had stabilised over the past six to seven years, but questions remained about whether changing perceptions had translated into a more welcoming environment on the ground.
“For a very long time, in J&K, terrorism was the industry. Now times have changed. Six, seven years have passed. Things have stabilised. But to my mind, the mindset, whether it has changed or not, in a hall like this, yes, it has changed, definitely it has changed. But if you go outside and say, I need this land, would it be easily available? That is the point,” he said.
Kumar said the basic requirements for attracting GCCs were similar across locations and included reliable power supply, good connectivity, quality education, modern infrastructure and a conducive social environment.
He said companies also looked for places where employees and their families could enjoy a good quality of life, including recreational facilities and activities beyond working hours.
“You can’t invite people to some place where there is nothing to do after office hours. There has to be a good place for the family, children, friends, leisure time,” he said, adding that the region needed practical solutions to meet these requirements.
Emphasising the importance of land availability, Kumar said administrative processes should be streamlined to facilitate the establishment of infrastructure and industrial projects.
Citing an example from the Power Department, he said a file seeking allotment of land for a 33-kV receiving station had been sent to the department for consultation, even though the proposal had originated from the same department.
He said such procedural issues needed to be addressed to ensure smoother decision-making and faster project implementation.
Kumar also called for a change in social attitudes towards investors from outside the Union Territory, saying businesses should be welcomed rather than questioned over their presence or activities.
“The land has to be made available wherever Hyderabad and Bangalore come up, because the governments have been proactive,” he said, stressing that a welcoming environment was essential to attracting investment.
He said investors naturally gravitated towards locations where business operations were easier and more profitable, adding that Jammu and Kashmir needed to create conditions that would encourage companies to choose the region without requiring repeated persuasion.
“Once we have a good centre, people will start coming to this space, and the volume would increase,” he said.
Kumar also urged students to engage with the challenges faced by the government and society, identify problems and work towards practical solutions.
Describing Jammu as a place with growing visibility and intellectual potential, he said developing local talent and solving real-world problems would help attract more talent and investment to the region. (PTI)
