will industry in Kashmir bloom like the almond flowers?

Srinagar, March 19: Kashmir’s business drought could end soon with a clutch of foreign institutional investors ready to pick up stakes in state-owned corporations whose shares would be placed on the bourse.

Haseeb Drabu, the economic adviser to the Jammu and Kashmir government, said around a dozen top bosses from global firms like Fidelity, Capital Group, First State Investors and Federated Investors visited the Valley to explore investment opportunities.

The corporate heads, who were on a tour of the country, spent three days in Srinagar, which officials here are touting as proof of their interest in the state.

“They visited Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kochi and Calcutta before coming to Srinagar. In Kashmir, they spent more time than in any other place, which is unusual. Their response was encouraging,” Drabu said.

Kashmir has little to offer to the FIIs because of the absence of business institutions but the government, which had promised to create an environment of industrialisation, says it is committed to making a headway.

“You may see the results in the next six to seven months. We are drafting a blueprint on how they can participate in the development of the state,” Drabu said.

The government’s priority areas are hydroelectricity, financial services and offshore banking. “Our Power Development Corporation, which can generate 20,000MW of hydro-power, is going public and we can divest 49 per cent stake,” Drabu said.

The government is also planning to develop a horticulture development corporation and subsequently list it on the market. It will involve food processing, development of cold storage chains and packaging. Horticulture, with an annual turnover of Rs 1,900 crore, is the mainstay of Kashmir’s dwindling economy.

The state has only one listed company, J&K Bank. Around 40 per cent of its shares are held by FIIs.

Among those whom the state hosted were Mark Denning of the Capital Group, James Latorrey of Northern Cross, Nicholas Harbinson of Tantallon Capital, Jonathon Eliot of Federated Kaufman, Charles Dutton of Coupland Cardiff Asset Management, and Richard Shephard of Fidelity.

During their visit, which began on Thursday, they met chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, his deputy Muzaffar Hussain Baig, finance minister Tariq Hameed Qarra and Drabu.

For the government, the three-day visit has come as a shot in the arm as almost all western countries have issued advisories to their citizens against visiting Kashmir because of the disturbed situation.

The ruling coalition has promised to bring Kashmir on the investment map, but there has been little progress as the focus has been on addressing security concerns.

Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh, who today laid the foundation stone for an international trade centre in Srinagar, however, said progress had been made on the home front, particularly in the information technology sector.

“Tata Consultancy Services has decided to send a team led by its CEO in May. I have also spoken to (Wipro chief) Azim Premji and he has also shown interest in Kashmir,” Ramesh said.

The minister said Nasscom, the apex body for software companies, would conduct a competence assessment test for hiring BSc graduates and engineers for the IT industry.

Nasscom conducted a similar exercise in the Northeast last year.

“The state annually produces 3,000 BSc graduates and 1,200 engineers. This means a lot of them will get jobs,” Ramesh said.