By IANS,
New Delhi : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday called upon the captains of industry to renew the “old business bonds” with the state and assured them that the atmosphere in the strife-torn valley had undergone a “sea change” after the peaceful November-December assembly elections.
“The Essar group has invested Rs.150 crore (Rs.1.5 billion) in a BPO venture in the Valley, it’s the first time in 20 years that such a big investment has come to the state,” he said in his address at the 81st annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here.
“And we plan to build the tempo in the months to come. Be it SMEs (small and medium enterprise), food processing, tourism, IT and BPO, the opportunities are immense. I request all of you to renew the old business bonds with the state,” the chief minister said.
“I am not asking the investors to come in to me with business plans, what I am asking is everyone should come and visit my state and see for yourself (the) peace and also other possibilities.”
Maintaining that 20,000 MW of power remained to be tapped in the state, Abdullah said there was only the Chenab power project, which can generate 2,000 MW.