By Mushtaq Bala | Kashmir Pen
Srinagar, August 3: A wave of frustration and disillusionment is sweeping across the entrepreneurial community in Jammu and Kashmir, as the long-promised industrial land allotment process remains mired in unexplained delays and systemic failures. Promising ventures by young, qualified entrepreneurs now stand frozen — casualties of a broken bureaucratic mechanism that has derailed hopes and stalled investments.
Wasim Ahmad, a spirited entrepreneur from Srinagar, is among hundreds who have been left in the lurch after applying for industrial land under the government’s much-publicized 2021 allotment initiative. Four years down the line, despite having submitted all formalities, including fees through the official online portal, he has not received any response or land allotment. “This is not just a delay. This is a betrayal of the very spirit of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ that the government proudly advertises,” Wasim says with visible disappointment.
His voice echoes a broader sentiment — one of abandonment and confusion. What was envisioned as a new era of industrial growth in Jammu and Kashmir, post-2021, is increasingly being viewed as a lost opportunity due to red tape, digital dysfunction, and official apathy.
Among the worst-hit is Haamid Mushtaq Bala, a dynamic young entrepreneur whose enterprise at Khrew Industrial Estate, provisionally registered with the District Industries Centre (DIC) Pulwama, is on the verge of collapse before even taking off. Haamid’s struggle isn’t due to lack of compliance or resources, but because of a defunct Single Window System — the very platform meant to streamline industrial approvals.
Haamid has been consistently following up with the local electricity sub-division to get a power connection sanctioned for his unit. However, he has been denied further processing in the absence of a “Consent to Establish” certificate from the Pollution Control Board, Pulwama. Ironically, this certificate is only obtainable through the Single Window System, which has remained non-functional for months, if not years. This vicious loop has brought his project to a grinding halt despite prior clearances and official registrations.
“This is not just inefficiency, it’s active damage to youth-led enterprise. We are ready to invest, create jobs, and contribute to the local economy — but are being choked by an outdated, unaccountable system,” Haamid says.
The larger implication of such systemic failure is a deepening trust deficit between the government and young industrialists — many of whom returned from other parts of India or abroad with dreams of setting up ventures in their homeland under the much-hyped new industrial policy.
Entrepreneurs and business associations are now demanding a high-level intervention to investigate the delay in land allotments, restore the functionality of the Single Window System, and ensure accountability across departments involved in industrial facilitation. “If this is the experience of the educated, digitally savvy entrepreneurs, one can only imagine the plight of others,” says a local trade body member.
In a region that desperately needs economic rejuvenation and job creation, failing its entrepreneurs is more than administrative oversight — it’s a strategic blunder. Unless swift corrective steps are taken, Jammu & Kashmir risks losing its most ambitious, most invested generation to disillusionment and flight.
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