Claims of heavy investments in J&K post-2019 a ‘Lie’: Mehbooba Mufti

Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said that claim made by the government about heavy investment flow into Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 was a “lie”.

For the past several months, top officials of the J&K administration have been claiming that massive investments were coming to Kashmir, she said, adding that the figures showed that investment of just ₹376 crore was made in the UT in 2021-2022, which was far less than what took place when the PDP-BJP coalition government was in J&K.

“Despite GOIs tall claims of heavy investment flow into J&K post abrogation of Article 370, the figures presented by them in the Parliament prove otherwise. 840 crores in 2017-18 vis a vis 376 crores in 2021-22. A lie has no legs,” Mehbooba Mufti tweeted along with figures presented in the parliament.

As per those figures, investments worth ₹840.55 crore were made in 2017-18; ₹590.97 crore in 2018-19; ₹296.64 crore in 2019-2020 and ₹412.74 crore in 2020-21, while the number was ₹376.76 crore in the current year, she said. The coalition government had collapsed in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew its support and the state came under the governor’s rule.

The government had earlier said that investment projects worth ₹10,000 crore were under execution in Jammu and Kashmir, while proposals to the tune of ₹60,000 crore were being processed.

“Since Independence, Jammu and Kashmir had received private investments to the tune of ₹14,000 crore only. However, after introduction of new industrial development scheme, the UT has received investment proposals worth ₹56,000 crore in just about one year time,” an official spokesperson had said earlier this year.

He had said there was a huge rush of investments in Jammu and Kashmir by private players from the country as well as abroad.