Chairman/CEC, LAHDC, Kargil, Dr. Mohd Jaffer Akhoon, chaired a meeting on June 26 to discuss the Revised Draft of Procedural Guidelines for the Ladakh Sustainable Policy 2022-2027 and the Ladakh Industrial Land Allotment Policy 2023.

The meeting was attended by Executive Councilor for Revenue, Kacho Mohd Feroz; Executive Councilor for RDD, Er. Phuchok Tashi; Executive Councilor for School Education, Zakir Hussain; Former CEC Feroz Ahmed Khan; Councilors of LAHDC, Kargil; General Manager of Industries and Commerce; and other stakeholders.

Key topics discussed included the registration of units for incentives, procedures for sanctioning and granting incentives, category-wise procedures for sanctioning various incentives, subsidies towards the cost of detailed project reports, subsidies towards stamp duty registration fees, transport subsidies, assistance to encourage green energy, wastewater recycling, pollution control, and various other components of the draft.

The CEC directed the concerned officers to ensure that the guidelines of the draft are people-friendly to prevent beneficiaries from facing difficulties while availing the benefits of various schemes.

The CEC also directed the General Manager of Industries and Commerce to incorporate suggestions into the guidelines. These suggestions included flexibility in hiring empanelled Chartered Accountants (CAs) from J&K and UT Ladakh, vetting of projects by the concerned departmental heads, subsidies in raw material transportation for import and export by road and air, increasing the subsidy in green energy from 50% to 75%, raising the upper limit cap for most components, and ensuring that the authority for identifying beneficiaries from underprivileged sections lies with the CEC, LAHDC, Kargil.

Regarding the Ladakh Industrial Land Allotment Policy, the CEC Kargil, along with the Councilors from respective constituencies, rejected the policy of UT Ladakh. The CEC stated that the policy directly contradicts the LAHDC Act under Sections 23 and 42, which categorically state that the power of land allotment rests with the Hill Councils of both the LAHDCs of Ladakh.

The CEC emphasized that due to the fragile ecology of Ladakh, the establishment of large industries would not be allowed. Only small and micro industry units would be permitted, with preference given to local people of Ladakh.