Kashmir Impulse Desk

Jammu, April 22 

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday that startup activity in Jammu and Kashmir had grown more than 1800 percent over the past six years, as he inaugurated a new manufacturing facility by Eveready Industries India Limited in Samba.

The number of startups rose from 69 in 2020 to 1,305 in the 2025-26 financial year, LG Sinha said, adding that the expansion, alongside industrial and government-supported units, had created employment opportunities for young people.

Speaking at the launch event, he cited investment figures to highlight industrial growth since the introduction of a new industrial policy in 2021. 

The LG said the region attracted Rs 58.24 billion in investments in 2025-26, more than 13 times the pre-2021 average.

Annual investment rose from Rs 21.53 billion in 2022-23 to Rs 33.89 billion in 2023-24 and Rs 41.45 billion in 2024-25, he said, adding that preliminary work had been completed on hundreds of additional projects expected to begin production in 2026-27.

LG Sinha said several large-scale units with investments exceeding Rs 5 billion had been established in recent years, signalling growing investor confidence.

The new Eveready plant, built with an investment of about Rs 2 billion in Samba, is expected to generate employment and support ancillary industries, suppliers and service providers, he said.

Company officials said the facility would have an annual production capacity of up to 360 million alkaline batteries, scaling up to an installed capacity of 456 million units, and could create around 500 direct and indirect jobs at full capacity.

The LG said the project underscored the region’s industrial potential and reflected broader economic transformation, while also paying tribute to victims of last year’s Pahalgam attack.

He said that the development push in J&K signalled India’s focus on economic growth and manufacturing expansion.