Kashmir Valley business losses mount to Rs21,000 crore in 85 days

The 80-day period of shutdowns and curfews in the valley has dented the economy of Jammu and Kashmir by a whopping Rs21,000-crore as the separatist sponsored agitation has affected every sector including tourism, handicrafts and the nascent industries.

Several manufacturing companies, hotels and restaurants have laid off staff due to prolonged agitation which is showing no signs of ending.

"We do not have the exact data but lay offs have taken place mostly in the hotel and restaurant sector and the travel trade," President of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Nazir Ahmad Dar said.

Dar said although reducing the number of employees in the hotel industry was a common practice during the winters due to lean tourist arrivals, this year the lay offs have started at the peak of the tourism season in July.

Asked about the estimated losses suffered by the business community in Kashmir, the KCCI president said on an average the losses were to the tune of Rs100 crore.

"Even on the limited days of normalcy we have had since June 11, there has been disturbance in some part or the other of the valley ... it will be safe to put the cumulated losses so far at Rs 8,000 crore," he added.

Dar said that business in the state will flourish only after permanent peace is established, which was only possible when "The government of India takes concrete steps to break the impasse".

Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya, the leading hotelier of Kashmir, said he was incurring a recurring loss of Rs30 lakh per month due to the ongoing agitation. "My salary bill per month is close to Rs15 lakh while another Rs15 lakh are incurred on overheads like maintaining the hotel properties, electricity bills, etc," he said.

Chaya, who owns prime hotel properties in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam under the brand name of Grand Mumtaz, said the indications were that Kashmir will witness a bumper tourist season this year.

"Most of hotels were running up to 80-90% occupancy during the early days of the season but that came crashing to 30 per cent by the end of June and now we are without business for two months exactly," he added.

The hotelier said as per the estimates, his 300 rooms would have fetched him at least a revenue of Rs1 crore per month even in a lean season. "The income would have almost doubled had we had a full season right up to ending October," he said.

Chaya is employing 400 persons, most of them from the valley at his hotel properties, while another 1,500 persons like taxi drivers, ponywallahs, travel agents and guides were earning their livelihood by indirect association with them.

In the initial stages of the agitation, which began on June 11 when a teenager was killed after allegedly getting hit by a tear smoke shell fired by police.

The manufacturing sector had remained largely unaffected as the units were located in relatively secure industrial estates established by the state government.

However, that has changed recently as groups of masked youth have indulged in vandalisation of some units in Lassipora Industrial Estate in Pulwama district and and Rangreth Industrial Estate near the old Airport in the city.