The 154th meeting of Board of Directors of Jammu and Kashmir Industries Ltd. (JKI) was held here today under the Chairmanship of Minister for Industries and Commerce Chander Parkash Ganga.Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, Vice-Chairman JKI, Gulzar Ahmad Dar, Principal Secretary Planning Department, Rohit Kansal, Commissioner Secretary Industries and Commerce Department Shailendra Kumar, Managing Director JKI, Javid Iqbal, Board members besides representatives of Planning and Finance departments were present in the meeting.The BoD took a comprehensive review of the overall working of the Corporation and sought details on the projects undertaken by the JKI and the achievements made so far in turning it into self reliant commercial unit.The Board accorded its approval for implementation of several projects which include establishment of silk factory at Jammu, Re-commissioning of Kashmir Filatures and spinning Plants at Solina Srinagar, Establishment of new Filature unit at Jammu.Ganga said JKI is the most prestigious Public Sector Enterprise of the state which has a huge asset base in the form of built-up infrastructure, machinery and landed properties.
The Board further approved establishment/modernization of Joinery Mills at Bari Brahmans Jammu on the same lines as has already been done in case of Government Joinery Mills Pampore. These projects will involve an investment of Rs. 43.20 crore.The Minister, while elaborating on the objectives and salient features of these projects, said that the endeavor envisages complete value addition to the locally available raw material particularly cocoon which shall benefit a large chunk of cocoon rearers. These initiatives apart from creating job opportunities to large number of local youth would also set in motion a viable economical cycle benefitting various layers of stakeholders, the Minister added. He also asked for imparting necessary skill development training to the manpower to be engaged for execution of these projects.The Minister also reviewed the progress on implementation of modernization of Silk Factory Rajbagh and Woollen Mills Bemina being done with an estimated cost of Rs. 35 crore under World Bank Funding was also reviewed.
He directed the concerned to complete these ongoing projects within the next financial year. He said that with the implementation of the projects, the silk and wool industry within the State would be tremendously benefited.To ensure stable and effective marketing of products, the Minister directed to establish showrooms at new Jammu Airport, Katra and Banihal railway stations besides the places which have extensive foot-fall of pilgrims. He also stressed for using e-Commerce platform for sale of products.The Board directed for completion of Statutory Audit upto FY 2016-17 by 31st March 2018 besides asking the concerned to conduct Manpower audit of the Company to optimize the available human resource and identify the future requirements.The Minister stressed upon the need of planned and proper utilization of working hours in the units of the Corporation to enhance the productivity for optimum outcome.MD, JKI, Javid Iqbal, highlighted the achievements of the Corporation besides projecting certain issues envisaging better functioning of the organization.