Read Online Recasting India by Hindol Sengupta - Free Book Online

they see some loophole with which to make even more money and as soon as that goes, they exit. In the 1980s, HUL [Hindustan Lever] used to have a big factory in Jammu because the monopolies and restrictive trade practices law was not applicable in the state. The moment it was introduced, they packed up and left.
    â€œSo my focus is clear—entrepreneurs within the state. People who will definitely stay here,” says the chief minister, who has been quoted as saying that enterprise cannot wait until “all the guns fall silent.”
    He needs to hasten the process of the state government’s push into the support of indigenous industries, especially since the central government’s thrust programs (such as Udaan and Himayat, which were launched in March 2012 to train 8,000 professionals for industries such as information technology and placement at companies like HCL, Wipro and TCS) are stuttering with only 139 students trained so far.
    Haseeb Drabu says that instead of such programs, the state government needs to focus on a “quick double formula.” “Look at it this way, in indigenous craftsmanship, for years, through all the troubles hundreds of thousands of people have continued in business. We calculated when I was at the J&K Bank that with a sustained push to provide finance to them, each crafts family which now employs two members can easily employ four—that’s three or four hundred thousand jobs right away! And then spend money on marketing the goods—why has the price of a Kashmiri shawl remained stagnant more or less for more than 30 years now? There you have it—simple solutions that can immediately bring prosperity.”
    For the first time, says Gazzala Amin, sometimes called Kashmir’s Queen of Lavender, there is a sense of urgency among many entrepreneurs and young people.
    The 48-year-old started Fasiam, an aromatic plants and oil extraction business, with Rs 8 lakhs seven years ago. Today her cultivation is spread over 2,000 canals of land (20 canals = 1 hectare or 2.47 acres), and she exports quality lavender oil everywhere from Turkey to France and China. Amin points to the global flavors and fragrances market set to hit $26.5 billion by 2016 and says Kashmir can develop as an essential oils hotspot.
    Lavender is prized for its linalool molecule, the perfume molecule that is used in cosmetics. The molecule contains esters that give it strength and purity, and Kashmiri lavender esters are often comparable to French lavender esters.
    In her three hilltop farms at Sonawari, Pulwama and Tangmarg, Amin produces five crops a year, one ton each of lavender,
Rosa damascena
(damask rose), rose-scented geranium, clary sage and rosemary.
    This is where she dreams of creating “an Indian Body Shop.” “We have everything. Kashmir can grow some of the best quality aromatic plants in the world. We also have a lot of barren land where maize cannot be grown but aromatic plants can be grown there. This land can be used to get up to Rs 3 lakh per hectare,” says Amin.
    â€œThere is so much opportunity that is being wasted.”
    Mudasir Mir says that’s what he tells Omar Abdullah, who is also the power minister of the state, each time he meets him. In a power-deficit state, Mir’s Magpie Hydel has three small hydropower plants at Bandipur (10 MW), Tangmarg (10 MW) and Poonch (20 MW).
    He says that, at the moment, Kashmir has “enormous pent-up entrepreneurial demand.” “There can be 40–50 power plants in Kashmir in hydel power which is so much cleaner than coal but very little moves without the personal intervention of the chief minister. How many files can he personally move?”
    The Fordham University MBA says entrepreneurs in Kashmir have decided to see that “the glass is less than half full.” “Half full is where we realize that there is so much infrastructure missing in the state, and less than half full is