Industrial revival in Jammu and Kashmir has long been treated as a banking exercise. 

Loans turn bad, recovery proceedings begin, one-time settlement schemes appear, assets change hands and balance sheets improve. 

Banks eventually close files, government departments count another intervention, and the economy gains very little. 

That cycle explains why industrial sickness has remained a recurring feature instead of becoming a solvable problem in Kashmir.

Large numbers of micro, small and medium enterprises now fall under the category of “sick” units, although stakeholders cite different estimates. 

Some place the figure close to 90 percent in one form or another. 

Whatever the precise number, the conclusion remains the same: a region that already entered industrialisation later than much of India has watched a significant share of its productive capacity lose momentum. 

That reality places enormous pressure on Jammu and Kashmir’s limited lending ecosystem, led mainly by J&K Bank, while weakening employment, production and investment at the same time.

Financial restructuring alone cannot repair that damage because the problem extends far beyond unpaid loans. A functioning industrial unit represents far more than the money borrowed to establish it. 

J&K Bank Marks One Year of Mission YUVA with Massive Credit Drive

J&K Bank Marks MSME Day with Nationwide Entrepreneurship Drive

Government allocates land at concessional prices, develops roads, power infrastructure and water supply, and creates an industrial ecosystem around the enterprise. Workers build livelihoods around those investments. Local production reduces dependence on imported goods while contributing to the Union Territory’s Gross State Domestic Product. 

Once a factory shuts its gates, those public investments lose value together with the economic activity they were meant to generate.

Current policy continues to view industrial sickness through the narrow lens of loan recovery. Banks understandably pursue outstanding dues because public money remains at stake. Asset sales often recover only part of the original exposure,........

© Kashmir Observer