Love for their motherland has made top pandit businessmen determined to work for the economic recovery of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the reason around 270 top businessmen, including several top CEOs from the country and abroad, recently met in Delhi to work out an economic package for the state.
Participants included Vikas Rambal, CMD of Perdaman Chemicals & Fertilisers (Australia) to Rajiv Kaul, vice-chairman & CEO of CMS (ex Microsoft), Ajay Bindroo, Global CEO (Supermax) and Naveen Kundoo, CEO (Leisure Tours), the other whos who from the world of business.
Held under the aegis of Kashyap Progressive Commerce & Commercial Foundation (KPCCF), an umbrella group of the Kashmiri origin CEOs, the basic aim of the conclave was to attract investment to a state that has seen bloodshed for the last 20 years.
To start with, Rambal has promised to invest Rs100 crore and partner the state government in setting up a power generation unit that meets the electricity demands of the state. “We want to bury history and as sons of the soil want to rebuild the economy,” said Vikram Bhat, who is into the knowledge management industry.
The KPCCF summit comes at a time when the Jammu and Kashmir government has formally set the ball rolling to bring Kashmiri migrant pandits back to their homes. “It was felt that terrorism and unrest in the state was an aberration to the growth and the development of the state. Plus the development in the state will be driven by the youth who are proud of their bearings and who have the fire in their belly to rebuild the lost glory of the state,” said Prasun Peter, spokesman of KPCCF.
Tara Chand, J&K’s deputy chief minister suggested that the KPCC set up a cell to liaise with the state government. “The government wants to support them in every possible way,” he said. Union minister for new and renewable energy, Farooq Abdullah, lauded KPCC’s efforts for bringing together the community of pandit businessmen. “They can invest in mini-hydel power projects since J&K offers many opportunities in this sector,” Abdullah said.
