Srinagar, Oct 19: The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will constitute a joint committee comprising representatives of the business community, citizens’ groups, environmentalists and experts to examine concerns over certain provisions of the newly assented Jammu and Kashmir Ease of Doing Business Act, 2026, even as business leaders at a stakeholder deliberation on Monday strongly backed the legislation, describing it as a long-awaited intervention to address bureaucratic delays and facilitate investment.
The decision was taken at a marathon consultative meeting, presided over by KCCI President Javid Ahmad Tenga, which brought together business leaders, environmentalists, civil society representatives and professionals to discuss the legislation’s implications for investment, building permissions, land use and environmental protection.
While industry representatives broadly welcomed the Act as a long-awaited measure to address bureaucratic delays, experts raised concerns over its interaction with existing planning laws, building regulations, seismic zoning and environmental safeguards. Participants agreed that procedural simplification should not compromise planned urban development, public safety or the Valley’s fragile ecology.
Welcoming the participants, Tenga said the business community had consistently sought an end to unnecessary bureaucratic delays and red tape.
“The Ease of Doing Business Act is a welcome step in this direction, as it seeks to address many of the difficulties entrepreneurs have been facing while obtaining permissions and carrying out their business activities. The majority of the provisions of the Act have been welcomed by the business community,” he said.
However, he said certain provisions required detailed examination through constructive dialogue.
“Our objective is not to oppose the legislation or dilute its purpose of facilitating business and investment. We want the Act to achieve its intended objectives while ensuring that the concerns raised by experts and citizens are properly considered. Economic development, environmental protection and planned urban growth must go hand in hand,” Tenga said.
“However, certain provisions have raised concerns among some stakeholders, and we believe these issues need to be examined through constructive dialogue rather than allowing differences to persist. It is in this context that KCCI has decided to constitute a joint committee comprising representatives of the business community, the Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), the Environmental Policy Group (EPG) and experts from relevant fields. The committee will deliberate on the specific provisions that have been questioned and provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to present their views and examine the implications.
The Act was introduced in the Legislative Assembly by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on September 28 and passed the following day. Its provisions include time-bound approvals, elimination of redundant No Objection Certificates (NOCs), self-certification and deemed approvals, subject to applicable statutory conditions.
Former FCIK President Syed Shakeel Qalander presented a point-by-point response to the apprehensions raised by the GCC and EPG, referring to the provisions and safeguards contained in the Act. He traced the industrial community’s decades-long efforts, particularly through FCIK, to replace discretionary bureaucratic controls with transparent, time-bound and accountable administrative procedures.
He said repeated permissions, overlapping regulatory requirements and prolonged delays had often left otherwise viable projects financially distressed even before commercial production began.
Qalander maintained that procedural simplification should not be confused with exemption from substantive legal obligations, asserting that the industrial community had neither sought nor would support any relaxation compromising environmental protection, public safety or planned development. He urged stakeholders to assess apprehensions about possible misuse against the actual provisions of the Act rather than allow them to undermine the objective of administrative reform.
On building permissions and development controls, he proposed a joint committee to examine the proposed amendments to the Unified Building By-laws, 2021, and issues concerning construction in residential and other sensitive localities. Genuine deficiencies, wherever established, should be collectively taken up with the government for appropriate correction, he said.
Aijaz Rasool presented the concerns raised by the EPG, emphasising the need to ensure that administrative simplification did not weaken regulatory oversight in environmentally sensitive areas and established residential neighbourhoods.
Former judge Khaliq-uz-Zaman presented the GCC’s perspective, clarifying that the group was not opposed to facilitating industry but wanted safeguards against possible misuse of certain provisions.
A GCC member and former chief town planner raised concerns over Section 22, saying its implementation could permit departures from established planning parameters, including Floor Area Ratio (FAR), building heights, ground coverage and other development controls.
Hakim Iftikhar said Section 30(2) needed to be read alongside Section 22 to understand the legislation’s overriding effect. While welcoming the protection afforded to specified environmental laws under Section 30(4), he called for comparable clarity regarding Master Plans, urban and regional planning laws, development-control regulations and building-safety provisions.
He also flagged the Schedule III provision concerning residential buildings up to 24 metres in height without prior permission, saying the exemption’s scope needed to be clarified.
Manzoor Ahmad Tak and Touseef Ahmad Bhat stressed the importance of protecting the Valley’s fragile ecology.
Touseef said industrial facilitation should translate into tangible public benefits, including employment and responsible business practices.
GCC member Iftikhar Drabu advocated an amicable resolution of ecological concerns, while writer and international development professional Arjimand Hussain Talib cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions without examining the Act in its legal and administrative context. He suggested that industry and citizens jointly identify genuine deficiencies and distinguish them from differences of interpretation.
Industrial consultant Sayyed Parvaiz Qaisar, drawing on his experience of providing consultancy services to more than 9,000 projects, said procedural complexities, repeated clearances and prolonged delays had forced many aspiring entrepreneurs to abandon projects midway. He cautioned against speculation before the government notified the Act’s rules and operational guidelines.
Kashmir Small Scale Industrial Association President Syed Fazal Illahi cited the requirement introduced by the Industries and Commerce Department in 2017 for departmental permission to induct partners into a business, despite the arrangement being governed by partnership law. He said the requirement had resulted in delays lasting months and sometimes years.
FCIK President Shahid Kamili said industrial organisations had never sought permission to violate Master Plans, environmental regulations or other legitimate safeguards. Entrepreneurs, he said, wanted timely decisions and predictable procedures rather than discretionary concessions.
He also highlighted operational difficulties faced by enterprises after establishment, arguing that reforms must address hurdles affecting businesses throughout their functioning.
Industrial Estate Lassipora representative Sheikh Nisar Ahmad and the president of the Industrial Estate Association, Anchidora, Anantnag, also highlighted delays in routine approvals that consumed time and resources and disrupted business operations.
Syed Afaq Qadiri, president of the Integrated Handicraft and Textile Park, Zakoora, linked the need for administrative facilitation to unemployment and the migration of skilled youth. Representatives of the educational sector, including G.N. War and Nazrul Islam Baba, said reforms envisaged under the Act addressed longstanding demands to reduce multiple regulatory requirements faced by educational institutions.
KCCI Secretary General Faiz Ahmad Bakshi supported the legislation’s objective but stressed that environmental safeguards must remain paramount.
He said Jammu and Kashmir could not afford to lose agricultural land.
J&K Hoteliers Club President Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya described the legislation as a positive step and cautioned against opposing it merely for the sake of opposition, saying specific concerns should instead be taken up with the government.
Gowhar Maqbool acknowledged that several of his earlier apprehensions had been addressed through explanations offered by industrial representatives, underlining the value of direct engagement between stakeholders.
Former KCCI president G.M. Dug highlighted regulatory difficulties confronting the tourism sector and called for examining how the Act could help tourism enterprises become more competitive and self-sustaining.
The meeting was attended by KCCI Senior Vice President Umar Nazir Tibetbaqal, Junior Vice President Farooq Amin, Joint Secretary General Akib Chaya, executive committee members Ashiq Hussain Shangloo, Fayaz Punjabi, and G M Dug, KHAROA President Gowher Maqbool, Afaq Qadri, Nasrul Baba, Tauseef Ahmad Bhat and other trade and industry representatives.
The proposed committee will examine the contentious provisions of the Act, amendments to the Unified Building By-laws, 2021, and associated land-use concerns, with the aim of identifying areas requiring clarification or additional safeguards. Participants said the forthcoming rules and guidelines would be crucial in determining how the legislation operates on the ground.
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