J&K to set up SPV for establishment of amusement park

Jammu, June 9

The Administrative Council (AC), which met under the chairmanship of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, granted approval for conveying consent of the UT Administration to the Government of India for setting up of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the development of theme/ amusement park at Tattoo Ground, Srinagar, over 139.04 acres of land.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the L-G; Atal Dulloo, Chief Secretary; Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to L-G, attended the meeting.

Earlier, the UT administration had approached MHA in this regard, who proposed collaboration for the development of this amusement park. The Union government intends to support J&K to leverage the tourism potential of the UT and catalyse growth in the tourism sector by attracting tourists from across the globe by creating a state-of-the-art theme park at Tattoo Ground, Srinagar.

“The theme park will not only enhance tourist footfall but it will also be a centre of revenue generation and create employment opportunities in the region. To undertake the project, a formal institutional structure is proposed as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), under the Companies Act, 2013. The SPV so formed will implement the theme park either by itself or through its subsidiary or through a private player, on a Public Private Partnership basis or through any other acceptable mode, as may be decided. SPV will be an asset light company with no investment in the creation of capital assets,” an official said.

The project is expected to create sufficient employment opportunities in the UT. The project will be first of its kind in J&K and the theme park zoning involves sectors like hotels, hospitality, rides, indoor attractions, retail, commercial, offices, film facility, food and beverage and all these sectors have huge potential to create employment generation in the region, the official informed.

Advance funds for salaries

J&K administrative council has approved a proposal for providing advance funds in anticipation of Central share to meet salary requirement of employees of the Directorate of Family Welfare MCH and Immunisation. “The funds will be spread in two instalments, i.e. June and November, of the financial year. The funds so advance positioned will be recouped from the funds released by the Centre, upon submission of the audited utilisation certificate. This arrangement shall ensure regular disbursement of salary,” a government statement said.