The 85th meeting of the Board of Directors of Jammu & Kashmir Small Scale Industries Development Corporation Limited (SICOP) was held under the chairpersonship of Minister for Industries and Commerce, (Chairman SICOP) Chander Parkash Ganga here today.Minister of State for Industries & Commerce (Vice-Chairman SICOP) Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi besides Commissioner/Secretary Industries & Commerce Department Shailendra Kumar, Secretary Planning, Development & Monitoring Department, Director Budget, Finance department and Managing Director, SICOP, R L Tickoo were also present in the meeting.Addressing the meeting, Ganga said the Government is committed to provide hassle free services in the sectors like marketing, raw material and other infrastructural facilities to the small scale sector.He directed the officers that since the SSI sector has a pivotal role in generating employment, they should promote this sector with added focus.
After assessing the working of the Corporation, the Minister laid emphasis on the objectives of the Corporation where-under it has to aid and assist the Small Scale Industries of the State.The Board reviewed physical and financial achievements of the Corporation for the last financial year and first two quarters of the current financial year, besides, held threadbare discussion and made appropriate decisions to make the Corporation more vibrant, progressive and profitable. The Board also reviewed follow up action taken on the decisions of the previous board meeting.Commissioner/Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department directed theofficers of the Corporation that with the implementation of GST regime, the Corporation may lose some preferential treatment like VAT remission, other quotas or even marketing of SSI products to the Small Scale Industrial Units and as such he advised them to focus on diversification of activities.
The Managing Director, SICOP gave a detailed account of the achievements of the Corporation and informed the Chairman that during the current financial year the Corporation achieved a turnover of Rs 342.54 crore as on ending October, 2016 despite the fact that the working season in the valley got hit due to unrest. Still then the Corporation managed to earn a cash surplus of Rs 1.83 crore after accounting all expenditures. The Managing Director assured the Board that efforts are on to achieve a targeted turnover of Rs 775.00 crore by the end of current fiscal. In order to up-grade the existing infrastructure of Industrial Estates, DPRs have been approved under The Aggregative Macro Economic & Infrastructure Rebuilding (TAMIER).The meeting was also attended by President Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir Mohammad Ashraf Mir, President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, President Federation of Industries Jammu Lalit Mahajan besides senior officers of Industries & Commerce department & SICOP.