J-K Assembly passes Rs 6,714 cr grants for PWD, industries, labour & mining departments

Jammu, Feb 12: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Thursday passed grants amounting to Rs 6,713.59 crore for different government departments by voice vote after daylong discussions.

The House approved Rs 5,298.43 crore for the public works department, Rs 866.16 crore for industries and commerce, Rs 285.26 crore for labour and employment, Rs 198.82 crore for skill development, and Rs 64.93 crore for mining, officials said.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, who holds charge of these departments, said the government is focused on creating a robust road network to connect habitations and promote socio-economic growth, given the Union territory’s difficult topography.

“More than 40,000 km of road network has been developed so far, while 18 major projects of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways are in the pipeline this fiscal. Also, 22 key projects, mainly bridges, have been inaugurated to enhance connectivity and defence mobility,” he said.

On industries and commerce, Choudhary said the department is prioritising grounding of investments, MSME strengthening, startup promotion and protection of traditional sectors like handloom and handicrafts.

“Investments worth Rs 5,349 crore have been grounded in 2025-26 till January, the highest in a single fiscal and nearly 12 times the annual average prior to 2020,” Choudhary said.

Under the Rs 28,400 crore Central industrial development package (NCSS), 971 applications involving Rs 14,292 crore investments have been registered, he said.

“J-K secured 5th rank nationally in the Business Reform Action Plan in November 2025,” he added.

“The number of registered startups has risen from 69 in 2020 to 1,342 in 2025-26, including 490 women-led ventures, with 853 new startups added this year,” the deputy chief minister said.

He also said that amendments to the J-K Industrial Policy 2021-30 are being proposed to recalibrate incentives post NCSS.

On mining, Choudhary said the government is focusing on sustainable mineral resource utilisation and policy reforms.

“Under SASCI 2025-26, key reforms have been completed and the Ministry of Mines has sanctioned Rs 100 crore as incentive,” he said.

Studies and e-auctions of lithium in Reasi, lignite and marble in Kupwara and biogenic shallow gas in the Karewa Basin are targeted by June 2026, while sapphire in Paddar and granite and graphite in Doda and Ganderbal are being prepared for auction, Choudhary said.

On labour and employment, he said 36.28 lakh unorganised workers have been registered on the e-Shram portal.

“Funds of Rs 244.64 lakh have been spent on labour sarais in Rajouri and Kathua. As many as 1.35 lakh entrepreneurship units are being created to generate employment for 4.5 lakh youth over five years,” the deputy chief minister told the House.

So far, 49,000 applications have been approved, 17,200 enterprises have been sanctioned by banks and nearly Rs 1,000 crore has been disbursed, he added. (PTI)