OPINION | Factories in Kathua, Shutters in Muzaffarabad

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by Ashu Mann

Jammu and Kashmir attracted a record ₹5,824 crore in industrial investment last year and continues to open new land for factories. In Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), traders pull down their shutters, authorities cut internet access, and investors stay away.

At the industrial estate in Bhagthali, Kathua, Bloomtex Industries has completed the first phase of a ₹120-crore textile plant that will employ more than 650 young people. Its owners plan to invest approximately ₹550 crore across three phases and eventually increase the workforce to 1,000.

In June 2026, markets in Muzaffarabad remained closed for 20 days. Traders and transporters across PoJK shut their businesses as protests left at least 24 people dead. Banks also shut down their ATMs after authorities cut internet access. These contrasting scenes capture the divide across Kashmir.

Record Investment, Growing Every Year

Jammu and Kashmir attracted ₹5,824 crore in industrial investment in 2025-26, more than 13 times its average annual investment before 2021. The figure has increased every year, rising from ₹2,153 crore in 2022-23 to ₹3,389 crore in 2023-24 and ₹4,145 crore in 2024-25.

Construction teams have completed half the groundwork for another 312 industrial units worth ₹7,864 crore. These units are expected to begin production in 2026-27. For the first time, investors have established industrial units with investments exceeding ₹500 crore each.

Between 2019 and December 2024, entrepreneurs established 1,984 new industrial units worth ₹9,606.46 crore, creating 63,710 jobs.

A Package Fully Subscribed by Investors

Investors have fully subscribed to New Delhi's ₹28,400-crore New Central Sector Scheme for the Union Territory. Officials have approved 971 industrial units worth ₹10,471 crore, which are expected to generate 51,897 jobs.

Overall, the government has received 8,306 proposals worth ₹1.63 lakh crore, promising 5.9 lakh jobs. Demand has exceeded the scheme's allocation to such an extent that Jammu and Kashmir has asked the central government to increase the package to ₹75,000 crore.

Jammu and Kashmir has also earned a "Top Achiever" ranking in India's national ease-of-doing-business assessment. Meanwhile, the number of startups in the Union Territory has grown from 69 in 2020 to 1,305 in 2025-26.

Land for Factories in Kathua and Samba

Industrial growth requires land, and the administration has been making it available. In January 2024, it transferred 272 acres across the villages of Gandyal, Majra, Bhagthali, and Taraf Manjli in Kathua to the Industries and Commerce Department for a new industrial estate.

Since 2019, the administration has transferred more than 3,875 acres across the Union Territory. Public-sector construction agencies NBCC, IRCON, and CPWD are developing 46 new industrial estates.

In neighboring Samba, Eveready Industries opened a ₹200-crore battery manufacturing plant in April 2026. The facility has the capacity to produce 456 million alkaline batteries annually and is expected to support approximately 500 jobs.

PoJK: One Industrial District, 4,000 Jobs

Business leaders in PoJK describe Mirpur as the territory's only industrial district. Its industrial zone employs just over 4,000 people.

In July 2026, officials planned to close the Industries Department office in Mirpur and relocate the position to Muzaffarabad. The Mirpur Chamber of Commerce warned that the move would increase costs for local industrialists.

Government spending on industry remains minimal. In 2024-25, the Department of Industries, Sericulture, Labour, and Minerals spent Rs 198.7 million on development, equivalent to approximately $720,000 and just 0.71% of a Rs 28-billion program.

The industries sector contributed Rs 45 million to government revenue, while minerals generated another Rs 75 million. This is despite PoJK possessing an estimated 700 million tonnes of granite, which the territory's own planners value at Rs 560 billion.

Unemployment stands at 9.6%, rising to 19.1% among women.

The territory's flagship foreign investment project has also made little progress. China Three Gorges planned to develop the 1,124-megawatt Kohala hydropower project on the Jhelum River at a cost of $2.5 billion, targeting financial close by December 2018.

By mid-2024, the company had secured only 4,607 of the 8,600 kanals of land required for the project. It subsequently requested an extension of its deadline to September 2027.

Shutters Down, Again and Again

Traders in PoJK have increasingly become the leading force behind public protests.

A strike in May 2024 brought the territory to a standstill. Subsequent shutdowns from September 29 to October 4, 2025, left at least 10 people dead.

In June 2026, authorities banned the Joint Awami Action Committee under anti-terrorism laws, cut internet and satellite services, and closed petrol stations. Police detained 515 people during the unrest.

The shutdowns came at a steep economic cost. Daily wage workers went without earnings for days, while fuel prices in the black market in Neelum Valley surged to between Rs 500 and Rs 800 per liter.

Confidence Is the Real Currency

Investors gravitate toward places that offer stability, access to land, and confidence in the future. In Jammu and Kashmir, they have found all three, and factories in Kathua and Samba are tangible evidence of that momentum.

In PoJK, capital faces shuttered markets, a stalled hydropower project, and a government that cuts internet access when people protest.

The contrast is stark. One side of Kashmir continues to open factory gates. The other repeatedly pulls down its shutters.

About the Author

Ashu Mann is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies. He was awarded the Vice Chief of the Army Staff Commendation card on Army Day 2025. He is pursuing a PhD from Amity University, Noida, in Defence and Strategic Studies. His research focuses include the India-China territorial dispute, great power rivalry, and Chinese foreign policy.

Disclaimer: This article represents the author’s independent analysis and perspective based on publicly available information. It does not constitute official guidance, intelligence assessment, or policy recommendation, and does not reflect the positions of Access Hub or any affiliated entities.