Avinav Verma
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir could see a major shift in the way businesses obtain government approvals if the Jammu and Kashmir Ease of Doing Business Bill, 2026, to be introduced by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, becomes law.
The proposed law sets out a system under which new enterprises in approved industrial parks could receive in-principle approval within three working days, while businesses outside such parks would have a decision within 30 working days and existing enterprises within 45 working days. If the prescribed authority fails to decide within the stipulated period, the approval could be deemed to have been granted under the proposed framework.
The Bill, to be introduced by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Assembly, seeks to shift the regulatory framework from a permission-based approach towards rule-based governance, with greater emphasis on time-bound decisions, single-window clearances and reduced duplication in licences and approvals.
Under the proposed system, an enterprise seeking to establish itself in an approved industrial park would submit a Declaration of Intent and the District Empowered Committee would be required to issue an In-Principle Approval within three working days.
For enterprises outside approved industrial parks, the proposed timeline is 30 working days, while existing enterprises would have a 45-working-day window.
Failure to decide within the prescribed period would trigger the proposed deemed-approval mechanism, allowing the enterprise to obtain the approval through the designated portal.
The Bill provides that an enterprise should not be prejudiced merely because of official silence, inaction or delay.
Another significant provision is a proposed three-year moratorium on inspections and coercive action relating to approvals from the date of registration of an enterprise.
During this period, an inspection or coercive action would generally require permission from the Deputy Commissioner.
The protection would not cover serious complaints. In such cases, an inspection could be authorised after recording reasons. Inspection reports would also have to be uploaded within 48 hours.
The proposed protection would not prevent action in cases of fraudulent information, unauthorised construction or failure to meet minimum fire-safety requirements. Such violations could lead to corrective action, penalties or revocation of approval under the Bill.
The Bill proposes District Empowered Committees headed by Deputy Commissioners, bringing representatives of several departments into a district-level mechanism for dealing with business approvals.
The committees would not merely coordinate applications. Where a competent authority rejects an application or fails to grant approval within the prescribed period, the committee could, subject to the proposed law, overrule the decision or delay and grant approval.
This would place a substantial part of the approval process at the district level rather than leaving businesses to pursue multiple departments separately.
The proposed framework also seeks to reduce duplication between regulatory requirements.
Businesses covered by certain existing registrations would, in specified cases, no longer require separate local trade licences. The Bill, for instance, proposes exemptions for entities already registered under the Food Safety and Standards Act, as well as specified categories covered by GST, MSME and labour-related laws.
At the government level, an Executive Committee headed by the Chief Secretary would function as a key coordinating mechanism for the Single Window System and monitor the time taken for different approvals.
For businesses that still face unresolved regulatory grievances, the Bill proposes an Auto Appeal System.
If a grievance is not disposed of within the prescribed period, or is rejected, an appeal would automatically be filed before the designated appellate authority under the proposed mechanism.
The Bill provides for presumed consent from the enterprise for such an appeal at the time the original grievance is filed.
The proposed legislation also contains provisions for greater flexibility in land-use and development regulations for enterprises, subject to specified conditions and restrictions.
For industrial areas, provisions relating to FAR, setbacks, ground coverage and building height could be relaxed under the proposed framework.
Industrial authorities could also provide facilities such as worker housing and allied educational, health and commercial infrastructure.
The Bill further proposes industrial leases of up to 99 years, along with provisions dealing with reassignment and subleasing of industrial plots.
The proposed law also provides for possible employment preference for J&K domicile candidates.
The Executive Committee, with the approval of the Council chairman, may direct enterprises employing more than 10 people to reserve a specified percentage of vacancies for domicile candidates. An exemption could be granted where suitably skilled or qualified local candidates are unavailable.
The proposed easing of business regulations would not remove statutory environmental requirements.
The Bill retains the applicability of laws relating to environmental protection, forests, wildlife and water and air pollution. Where environmental clearance is mandatory, it would still have to be obtained before construction.
