Jammu & Kashmir - Projects and Development

[Euromast]

J-K to spend Rs 500 crore on infrastructure projects

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir government is spending Rs 500 crore to raise 40 important infrastructure projects including construction of roads and bridges in Kashmir division, a senior official said here on Sunday.

Work has already started on 32 projects, Mehboob Iqbal, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir said while addressing a meeting convened here to review the pace of work on the road and bridge projects.

Iqbal said adding Rs 278 crore are being spend on 16 road projects while the economic reconstruction agency is incurring Rs 42 crore on construction of 17 bridges.

Officials should synergize their efforts to ensure timely completion of these projects, he said.

Work on four water supply schemes has also been taken up to provide augmented water supply in Srinagar while work is apace on three sewerage projects. These projects are estimated to cost Rs 189.58 crore, Iqbal said.

At a separate meeting, the Divisional Commissioner reviewed the pace of beautification of river Jhelum on which Rs 25.55 crore are being spent

.

[MxC]

Originally Posted by IndiansUnite

That's for widening NH1A

My first thoughts were the same, mainly due to (indirect) mention of the Jawahar road tunnel. But then I saw that the article mentioned about only 130 kms, whereas the distance from Jammu to Srinagar is about 300 kms. So does it means that the whole stretch is not being widened? If so, then which stretch is getting widened here?

[IndiansUnite]

Originally Posted by MxC

So does it means that the whole stretch is not being widened? If so, then which stretch is getting widened here?

Eventually the entire NH1A (Jalandhar-Srinagar) will be four laned under the NS highway programme. One possibility is that NHAI could have bifurcated the design job for the Jammu-Srinagar section amongst 2 firms and Bentley solutions is one of them. They generally break down projects inorder to speeden it up.

[MxC]

Thanks IU, that makes sense.

BTW, what is the NS highway program? Are you referring to the NHDP here, or is it some separate program?

[IndiansUnite]

Originally Posted by MxC

BTW, what is the NS highway program? Are you referring to the NHDP here, or is it some separate program?

The North-South highway program is part of the NHDP. You can check it out in this map --> http://nhai.org/images/june06/a4_m.jpg

Different highways that connect Srinagar with Kanyakumari (TN) will be 4/6 laned just like the golden quad. Similarly the highways from Porbandar (GJ) to Silchar (Assam) will be 4/6 laned forming the East-West corridor.

[MxC]

J-K attracting private investment for industrial promotion

The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Wednesday said it is wooing private sector investment for promotion of industries in the state.

The central assistance and private sector investment, which is being roped in, for industrial growth are being channelised at various level, Industries and Commerce Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora said while interacting with the management and workers of government spinning mill at Nowshehra near here.

The mill has been made functional after three years by arranging raw material and necessary equipment.

Jora said the state is focussing on the development of micro and macro industries in the state.

[phaedrus]

Work on Kishanganga project will be expedited

Work on the 300 mega watt Kishanganga power project in Jammu and Kashmir near line of control will be expedited as Pakistan is also constructing a power project on the same river in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh said here today.

"The work on the 300 Mega Watt Kishanganga power project is in advanced stage. We need to speed up the work on the project as Pakistan is also constructing a power project on the river with Chinese assistance," Ramesh told reporters here.

He said the power project was based on 'run of the water' and did not involve storage of water at any stage.

Asked about the rationale behind constructing two projects on the same river when one of the two will not be viable, Ramesh said the project had great strategic and foreign policy implications.

"I am sure Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must have given a thought to it."

He said only the Prime Minister or the External Affairs Minister would be able to comment on the issue.

"However, we are determined to implement the project which was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2007," he added.

On the Baglihar power project, Ramesh said the first phase of the project will be commission by March next year.

"150 MW will be in the stream by August this year, 150 MW in October and another 150 MW in December, but in power sector, what is on paper is not necessarily what happens," he said.

source economictimes.com

[IndiansUnite]

Status of the Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project as on June 10

[SarafIndian]

Co to set up Rs 1 cr TV assembling unit in Kashmir

ZUBAIR A. DAR

Srinagar, June 12: Kashmir’s first television manufacturing company, Global Electronic Industries, is establishing an automatic facility for television assembling here. The facility is likely to gain the company contracts from well-established television brands controlling a good market share across India.

The assembling unit, coming at a cost of Rs one crore, is likely to start its operations within six months. “It will be a fully automatic plant. Other companies can outsource their assembling jobs to us once the plant starts operating,” says Tufail Hamid Mir, proprietor of Global Electronic Industries.

Mir, who started his company with the manufacture of transformers in 1998, now controls one and a half crore rupees business. After his success with transformer business, the company went on to launch its assembled brands of TV in 2004. Two years later, the company had already hit the market with the cheapest brand of LCDs, thus giving stiff competition to established LCD brands.

“Global is one among the fastest growing companies in Kashmir. I believe it will be a great asset in near future and also become a good employment provider, both directly and indirectly,” said Parvaiz Ahmad Raina, functional manager in Industries Department.

Global at present produces 7,000 televisions per year and sells at around 700 units per month – 400 in Kashmir and 300 exported to Leh, Kargil and Jammu. After the plant is established, Tufail says, the production per year shall rise to more than 10,000 television sets in one year.

“More employment opportunities will also be generated. We hope to employ 25 percent more employees,” says Mir, adding that his company at present employs 25 youth.

The entrepreneur regards the decision to establish an automatic plant as a big leap for his company. Tufail, who invested into the company after closing his travel agency in Delhi, says he wants to take the Global brand to every part of India and abroad as well.

“For this, we are establishing a network. Hope we succeed,” says Mir. “I started this company with just 15,000 rupees. I have seen many ups and downs and learnt a lot. I believe that one needs to take an initiative and then only ways open for you, he adds.

Mir, who at present produces around 40 different products – ranging from transformers to LCDs and televisions to DVD players – says that his is the first electronics company supplying goods to Jammu.

“And we receive few complaints. Maximum complaints are about short circuit in TV fuses. It happens because of power fluctuations,” says Mir. “And we send a person for repairing the fuse to every home from where the complaint comes.”

Mir believes that youth can aim to create their own destiny by stopping to rely on government jobs.
Mir has a message for youth: “Do not run after government employment. Use your talent and skill to canoe your own boat.”

[MxC]

Nice to read about such entrepreneurs and their success stories.

However just a little aside here ... he sells 700 units per month, making it 8400 units per year. But he produces only 7000 per year. The math here doesn't matches

[IndiansUnite]

J&K floats global tender for 690 MW hydro power project

PTI reported that Jammu & Kashmir government has floated global tenders for setting up of 690 MW rattle power project in Kishtwar district of the state, in tune with the new hydro electric power policy on river Chenab.

Jammu & Kashmir Power Development Corporation sources said that "After formation of the new hydro electric power policy to tap power generation potential of river Chenab, JKPDC has floated global tenders for construction of biggest 690 MW rattle power project on river in Kishtwar." They added that the project would be awarded to the successful bidder fulfilling all proposed parameters.

[phaedrus]

J&K ties up with MNCs to boost vegetable cultivation

Buoyed by a record vegetable production of about 7 lakh tones last year valued at Rs 700 crore, the Jammu and Kashmir government is roping in MNC firms to buy the products in bulk which would help to boost cultivation and marketing Ianthe region.

About 1.25 lakh tones of off-season vegetables valued at about Rs. 150 crore have been exported from the valley last year and those worth rs 175 crore are expected to be exported this year, Principal Secretary Agricultural Production Sonali Kumar said on Sunday.

Kumar, who inspected the vegetable nurseries in Budgam district, said the area is fast emerging as a vegetable production centre in the valley.

Kumar also inspected some floriculture units in the district set up by progressive entrepreneurs after getting training from the Entrepreneurship Development Institute.

She said 100 polygreen houses have been sanctioned for growers at subsidized rates to encourage cultivation of vegetables and floriculture.

source economictimes.com

[zhiemi]

Srinagar Int'l Airport to be ready within a month: Patel

After missing two deadlines, the Srinagar International Airport is expected to be made operational in less than a month, with Air India scheduled to operate the first overseas commercial flight from Srinagar to Dubai.

"The work on the airport will be completed within a month. Direct flights will be started to the Gulf in the beginning," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters after reviewing the progress of work.

More overseas flights would be added later on depending on the demand.

The executing agency has so far missed two deadlines -- April 15 and June 30.

The minister also said that an instrument landing system (ILS) would be installed at the airport here, once the Indian Air Force that administers the facility gives its nod.

Patel said Jammu and Kashmir has seen the biggest increase in air traffic growth in terms of percentage over the past three to four years.

"Growth of Air traffic has been more in Jammu and Kashmir compared to the rest of the country. The state is already on priority of improving the infrastructure and we will do whatever is required," he said.

He said Rs 250 crore has been sanctioned for modernizing the Jammu airport, while Rs 112 crore has been sanctioned for expansion works at the Leh airport.

Plans are also afoot to operationalise an abandoned air strip at Kishtwar.

The minister said he will take up with the Prime Minister and Home Ministry, the issue of starting helicopter services to connect remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

[phaedrus]

J&K Govt approves Rs 555.03 crore for water supply schemes

Jammu and Kashmir Government has approved Rs 555.03 crore for under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) in the valley, an official spokesman said here on Sunday.
He said the new water supply scheme will cover 1199 habitations and benefit 10.84 lakh population.
Under the ARWSP, 21 schemes are being completed this year at a cost of Rs 40.67 crore in order to provide potable water facility to 40,000 people in 44 habitations, he said.
In addition, 54 water supply schemes are expected to be completed during the current financial year under the Phase IV of the ARWSP to provide drinking water to about 2.62 lakh souls in 251 habitations, the spokesman added.

source economictimes.com

[zhiemi]

'J&K agitation costs its industry Rs 1,500 cr'

Economic activity in Jammu and Kashmir has been severely impacted due to the ongoing agitation in the region, resulting in a loss of Rs 1,500 crore to the state's industry in the past couple of weeks, Assocham said.

Among the sectors worst hit by the agitation and state-wide protests are tourism, silk, hosiery, carpets, handicrafts, fruits, tourism, forest-based and herbal products, the chamber said.

"If the agitation continues, Jammu and Kashmir's economy will suffer a major jolt as investors that have committed over Rs 5,000 crore worth of investment for 2008-09 would venture into neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh," Assocham President Sajjan Jindal said.

The region has witnessed several violent protests during the last few days over the Amarnath land transfer row.

The industries have also not been able to fulfill their respective export commitments. Exports from the region have declined by about 30 per cent in view of the ongoing agitation, due to which movement of goods, particularly fruit and other items has come to a standstill, he said.

In an appeal to political parties, Jindal said efforts should be made to arrive at an amicable solution for restoring normalcy in the state. With law and order improving in the state in the past few years, investment proposals by companies had grown 10-fold from around 200 million dollar in 2001 to more than 2,300 million dollar in 2007.

While this investment could multiply manifold, such agitations discourage investors and threaten the peace in the region. According to recent study by the chamber, fresh investments of Rs 28,000 crore were expected to flow in Jammu and Kashmir by 2012, creating employment opportunities for 25 lakh people.

[zhiemi]

Unrest in J&K costs industry Rs 5k cr: Assocham

Social and political upheaval in Jammu and Kashmir during the past two months has cost its industry dearly, leading to losses of over Rs 5,000 crore, industry body Assocham has said.

The sectors worst hit by the agitation are tourism, carpet, cottage, dry fruits and food processing industries.

The state has witnessed widespread protests and agitation due to the Amarnath Shrine Board land transfer row.

The chamber said if the current situation remains unchanged, exports from the state would be adversely affected adding that efforts should be made to find an amicable solution to solve the crisis.

"What is needed is restoration of the dialogue process to bring the state back to normalcy," Assocham General Secretary D S Rawat said.

[jodhpur]

The first ever train service is due to open on Saturday in the disputed territory of Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan. The line is in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir and could have a dramatic impact on people's lives. The BBC's Geeta Pandey has been to see the work in progress.
Finishing touches are being given at this spanking new railway station in Ompura town in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The granite on the walls is being brightened and the floor is being polished.
As you enter the station, you see the gleaming new platform and the railway tracks. Behind the station, parked in the shed, is the brand new train.
A dozen gun-toting personnel of the paramilitary Railway Protection Force keep a watch.
Ompura, in Budgam district, is a station on the soon-to-be-opened railway line in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The rail link will connect Baramullah town in the north with Qazigund in the south - a distance of 73 miles (117km).
Trial run
Railway officials say the line would be ready by the summer of 2009, but a 44-mile (72km) stretch from Anantnag to Rajwansher via Srinagar is ready and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is due to inaugurate it on 11 October.
"A trial run with the speed of 110km (68 miles) has been completed and we are ready to go," said a senior official of the Indian Railways Construction Company (Ircon) which is running the project.
The project was first announced in 2,000 and has been eight years in the making.

Constructed at the cost of $466m (20bn rupees), it is the first railway project to join the dots between the various parts of Kashmir Valley.
Ircon officials say the project "will transform the region", bringing development to some of the remotest areas of Indian-administered Kashmir.
"At the moment, it takes three hours to travel by road from Qazigund to Srinagar. The train will do the same distance in 45 minutes," a senior official said.
"It will be useful for students who will be able to travel to Srinagar easily. It will also be a boon to those who need to get to the hospital in the capital city in a medical emergency," he said.
Residents of villages and towns along the track agree.
"Once it becomes operational, the train will definitely help us a lot," said Mohammad Yaseen who lives in Baramullah.
Most ambitious
"It will hugely cut down on our travel time and the authorities have said the fares will be kept low, so it will be good for us," he said.
The railway project is one of the most ambitious undertaken by Indian railways.
More than 5,000 workers, headed by hundreds of civil engineers, toiled for years to lay the tracks, build 900 bridges - including 100 major ones - and construct dozens of platforms.

Finishing touches are being given at the railway station in Ompura
But the biggest challenge, officials say, was building the network through some of the areas worst affected by the last two decades of insurgency by militants trying to end Indian rule in Kashmir.
Tight security was provided at the work sites with the police and paramilitary troops deployed in large numbers, but the security cordon was still breached on more than one occasion.
"One of our engineers was kidnapped in 2005 along with his brother and they were killed," a senior Ircon official said.
"Our workers were attacked many times by militants. And every time the labourers were attacked, they would all run away, making it difficult for the work to go on."
Kashmir's inhospitable terrain and harsh winters also posed problems for the project.
Symbolic
"Kashmir's winters are too harsh for the outdoor work, which meant in a year effectively the work could go on only for five months," the official said.
However, some in Kashmir say the railway link is more symbolic and will not have much impact on how people live and commute here.

The train has had a successful trial run
"It is most probably a train for tourists. The coaches have big glass windows from where tourists can have a good unrestricted view of Kashmir's beautiful landscape," says Mubeen Shah, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Says the state's former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, "The train will provide a degree of comfort. But it will not be as dramatic as a railway link with the rest of the country."
That, say Ircon officials, is part two of the project which will connect the track at Qazigund with Udhampur in the south. And the rest of India.
But that stretch is many more years in the making.

[zenith_suv]

Doing up downtown Srinagar
M Saleem Pandit | TNN


Downtown Srinagar. Five lakh people, living in chaotic congestion along the banks of the winding Jhelum, in a 2.58 sq km area. This is where the Kashmir storm rages, where ‘‘azadi’’ slogans rent the air and stones are thrown at policemen and government vehicles almost every day. This is where journalists go looking for ‘‘hard news’’.

Downtown Srinagar shapes the perception of Kashmir outside the Valley. It gets disproportionate media attention considering that the Valley has more than 54 lakh people spread out over 15,500 sq km.

But now, this perception game is joined. Chief minister Omar Abdullah has readied an ambitious makeover plan for ‘‘downtown Srinagar’’, as the older parts of the city are called. Abdullah told TOI that he will soon roll out the plan, which aims to clear the choked waterways, restore heritage homes, rebuild gardens and walks and basically restore its ‘‘traditional beauty’’.

But beautification may not win over the area’s restive, often unemployed youth — the vanguard of the protest movement fanned by separatist leaders such as Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Farooq as they compete for youth support.

Abdullah appears to have realized this and has consequently made reviving Srinagar’s old commercial hub a key feature of his makeover plan. Its bustling bazars — with shops laden with dry fruits, saffron, papier mache dolls, ‘‘namdas’’ of rough wool and ‘‘kaleens’’ of the finest silk — once attracted every visitor to the city. Can they ever be brought back? Reviving handicrafts will give youths jobs: Omar

Reviving Srinagar’s old commercial hub in downtown Srinagar has a long way to go. Right now, tourists are actively discouraged from going to this ‘‘troublesome’’ part of town. It’s been like this for two decades now, ever since militancy gained ground in Kashmir. To this day, when militancy is on a decline, the mood of downtown Srinagar is more often than not sullen, if not hostile, towards the state.

So, it’s not exactly easy for Omar Abdullah’s project of makeover of downtown Kashmir to succeed. It will require not just money, but creative engagement with the residents of this area. He said the unrest among the youth of the old city could be arrested by setting up the handicraft sale centres and by creating other business opportunities for residents.

Downtown Srinagar used to be dotted with copper shops, overflowing with copperware. It still has many. Kashmiris mostly use copper for tableware — even hukka bases are made of copper. Copperware is at times unpatterned, and at times in bas relief or richly engraved. Omar proposes to provide help to copper artisans of the area in order to revive the trade and attract tourists. He added families involved in weaving shawls and tapestries could be given soft loans. How far will he succeed in his grand plan? It’s difficult to tell but you sure hope he succeeds.

Source - Times of India

This is good news , downtown Srinagar is really down trodden and dirty , a makeover has been years in the making.

[natarajan1986]

Originally Posted by MxC

Nice to read about such entrepreneurs and their success stories.

However just a little aside here ... he sells 700 units per month, making it 8400 units per year. But he produces only 7000 per year. The math here doesn't matches

he is weak in maths,just ignore it

[zenith_suv]

FULL-STEAM AHEAD
After many delays, J&K rail link finally on track

Sameer Arshad | TNN

Banihal: The much-delayed rail link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country may finally be on track with the Railways nearing completion of the longest and most challenging transport tunnel in the country — Pir Panjal tunnel — that would connect Qazigund in Valley with Banihal in Jammu region — a region where virtally no habitation or road existed before.

Railway Board’s member (engineering) Rakesh Chopra said of the 158 bridges and 20 tunnels connecting the Valley with the rest of the country, the 11 km Pir Panjal tunnel, with
the highest overburden of 1100 metres, was the most challenging aspect of the entire project.

‘‘The tunnel would come up 440 metres below the existing Jawahar road tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only road link connecting Kashmir with the outside world,’’ he said. Thanks to the new Austrian tunneling method, the tunnel commissioned to be completed in seven years would be ready two years ahead of the schedule in December 2010.

The tunnel’s completion would be a major boost to the project after the setback it faced due the controversy and delay surrounding the four-year-old project of building the world’s highest bridge on Chenab (359 metres), a crucial part of the railway line last year. The work on the bridge was stopped after a belated discovery that it was unfeasible as the gorge in a high-relief mountainous region was unstable to bear the load of the mega steel arch. Chopra said that unlike the conventional method of mining on the either ends, tunneling work in this case was being done from more than two sides.He said that work on the tunnel’s 8.5 km stretch had been completed and the rest 3.5 km would be completed by late next year. The use of ‘‘road header along with the deepest drill holes for geo-technical investigations’’ are among several firsts used in the Pir Panjal tunnels mining, coming at the cost of Rs 647 crore.

Times of India.