Srinagar, July 17: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to deliberate upon the broad contours of the preliminary document of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Policy being formulated by the Planning, Development & Monitoring Department through the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Governance (CITaG), with the objective of creating an enabling ecosystem for attracting private investment and accelerating infrastructure and public service development across Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, APD; ACS, Finance; ACS, PWD; Director, IIM-Jammu; Commissioner Secretary, PD&MD; Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD; Commissioner Secretary, Industries; Secretary, Transport; Chief Executive Officer, CITaG; and other senior officers.
Addressing the meeting, the Chief Secretary underscored the importance of building institutional capacity for successful implementation of the proposed policy. He stressed the need for systematic capacity building of officers and officials at different levels so that they are adequately equipped to operationalise the policy in an effective and time-bound manner.
Emphasising the need for delivering tangible outcomes on the ground, Dulloo observed that the Government must lead by example in implementing the policy to instil confidence among investors as well as the general public. He directed the Industries Department to take lead in formulation of the policy by suitably refined it and incorporating the suggestions received during the meeting so that a comprehensive and well-structured policy document is finalised within the next month.
Referring to global best practices, the Chief Secretary cited the World Bank's well-established STEP model, describing it as a dynamic and self-evolving framework that enables efficient project execution with minimal procedural hurdles. He called for developing a similar institutional model tailored to the unique requirements, administrative structure and developmental priorities of Jammu and Kashmir.
He directed CITaG to proactively identify a pipeline of viable PPP projects across sectors and simultaneously establish a robust institutional mechanism and implementation framework to facilitate their timely execution once the policy is notified.
The proposed policy identified several high-potential sectors for PPP interventions in Jammu and Kashmir, including urban infrastructure, solid waste management, agriculture, food processing, energy, power, tourism, hospitality and healthcare, where private participation can significantly enhance service delivery, infrastructure creation and economic growth.