Srinagar: Welcoming the financial package, Kashmir Inc on Saturday said it will help the business community to recover six months of losses.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday announced Rs 1350 crore revival package for the business sector.
This package is a part of Rs 1400 crore economic package announced for J&K under Aatma Nirbhar Abhiyan of the central government. Fifty percent rebate has also been announced on power and water bills.
President-elect, Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FCIK) Shahid Kamli said the package will cover six-month losses of the business community.
“We welcome the initiative. Our expectations were very high and the government has considered six months of losses. We require a comprehensive package,” he said.
Kamili said the government should also announce a full waiver of utility bills of the business community.
“We should have got a 100 percent rebate on power and water bills. We had appealed to the administration for a complete waiver of utility bills,” he said.
President, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad said the business sector was in dire need of such an economic package.
“We had demanded a year-long interest subvention. Yet the response by the administration is still appreciable. We hope for more such packages to restore the business sector in Kashmir,” he said.
KCCI was a part of a business delegation that met Lt Governor recently after which a committee was constituted to study the losses. Ahmad said the KCCI was studying the economic losses faced by various sectors of Jammu and Kashmir due to the lockdown.
Kashmir Trader and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) President Muhammad Yasin Khan said they had demanded Rs 1500 crore package to compensate losses of the last 13 months. “Since the Lt Governor said it was a beginning, we are hopeful for more such measures in the coming days. We hope for interest waiver by financial institutions so that traders can fully recover from the losses,” he said.