Terror Attacks No Cause Of Alarm For J&K Projects

'If you are in a position to give employment to local people, you will find no terror attacks in your area.'

Terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir over the past 35 years have been non-discriminatory, but of late targeting vital infrastructure projects has evolved into a pattern.

However, contractors of major ongoing projects in J&K don't see cause for alarm just yet.

But the October 20 attack, in which armed terrorists killed seven people, including a doctor, has put infrastructure players in the region on alert.

The Centre is executing 51 mega projects (those valued at more than Rs 150 crore/Rs 1.5 billion) in the Union Territory, according to the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI).

These projects were initially estimated to cost Rs 76,000 crore/Rs 760 billion, but their cost has risen by 56 per cent to Rs 1.16 trillion, the data shows.

These include marquee projects such as the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link.

Stuck since 1995, the project costs Rs 42,500 crore/Rs 425 billion and is nearing completion, with a variety of trials taking place on the Chenab bridge, the highest rail bridge in the world.

In February, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi had launched the project during his visit to the UT.

Megha Engineering is executing the Zojila tunnel project in J&K.

According to people in the know, "there has been no immediate impact on the projects operating in the area similar to that of Megha Engineering, following the recent attack, as the location of the incident is far from the operations."

Recent attacks in the valley have been on non-locals working in the area.

The person quoted above said the majority of the company's workforce was local, and there had been no unrest among employees about their safety.

Another executive in a major engineering company executing projects in J&K said there had not been any impact on its operations so far.

Shapoorji Pallonji-owned Afcons Infrastructure, which plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) soon, has one ongoing project in J&K, the J&K Rail Link Project Dharam, worth Rs 1,230 crore/Rs 12.30 billion and is expected to be completed by 2024, according to its draft red herring prospectus.

Officials from the company referred to the latest development as a "stray incident", noting Afcons had worked in Jammu and Kashmir for 20 years and faced no such terror issues.

"Currently, except one project, we are not doing any other project in J&K. These kinds of terror attacks are rare," said S Paramasivan, managing director, Afcons Infrastructure, adding, "if you are in a position to give employment to local people, you will find no terror attacks in your area."

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro is another company executing two projects in J&K.

They are a power transmission and distribution project and the Pakal Dul heavy civil project. The company declined to comment on queries sent.

Mumbai-based Patel Engineering has seven projects ongoing in J&K, ranging from tunnels to urban infrastructure, valued at Rs 5,566.8 crore/Rs 55.668 billion, according to its FY24 annual report. Emails sent to Patel Engineering remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

The Centre is executing 13 National Highway projects, worth approximately Rs 5,700 crore/Rs 57 billion, in Jammu through its arm National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL).

According to NHIDCL, as of September 30, it had undertaken three NH projects which are ongoing, including the Z-Morh project.

These projects, a tunnel across the Zojila Pass on the Sonamarg-Kargil section (Zojila Tunnel) and a two-lane bypass, are worth Rs 15,874 crore/Rs 158.74 billion.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com