The magnificent bloom of colourful tulips mark spring – the season of change – in Kashmir. This year, however, the changes go beyond just the seasons. After suffering scourge of terrorism for decades, Jammu and Kashmir is set to witness a a major boost in the infrastructure space. A mega project, helmed by Dubai-based Emaar Group, was announced recently. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha performed the ‘bhumi pujan’ of the project on Sunday.
Known as ‘Mall of Srinagar’, the infra project will see entry of the Dubai-based group in the Valley. According to an Indian Express report, the announcement of the project comes roughly a year after top bosses of several Gulf-based firms visited the Valley to understand the investment opportunities.
Spread in an area of 10 lakh sq foot, the mega mall will have around 500 shops. Apart from Mall of Srinagar, the Emaar Group will also construct an IT tower in Sempora. Apart from these two infra projects, Emaar Group will also build an IT tower in Jammu also. The project in Jammu will cost around Rs 150 crore. These projects will help in generating much needed jobs in the Valley, Sinha said.
The government of Jammu and Kashmir said that this infra project in Srinagar marks the first FDI in the Valley. Emaar Properties CEO Amit Jain said that most of the shops in the mall are expected to be run by companies based out of UAE.
Addressing the India-UAE Investment Summit, the LG said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir has made remarkable progress towards ambitious infrastructure development programme, rail network, modernisation and expansion of airports, highways for ease of doing business and to fuel faster economic growth.
“We have been successful in removing the impediments and hurdles to great extent. We are upgrading our infrastructure both in capacity and quality to meet new demands and ready to raise our partnership with industries to higher levels,” the Lt Governor added.
(With inputs from PTI)
