J&K Lease Policy Needs Wider Public Consultation: CCI Jammu

Jammu, 2^nd t July  2026 : In a Press Statement issued today Sh. Arun Gupta President Chamber of Commerce & Industry stated that Housing and Urban Development Department have invited objection/suggestions and comments on the J&K Uniform Lease Policy 2026 and J&K Rentals and Licensing policy 2026 from the stakeholders and the general public. He said that it is observed that the notification bears the date as 5 June 2026 whereas it was issued on 17^th June 2026 and actually published in newspapers on 18^th June 2026 resulting in delay for making the notification available to the public.

He pointed out that the proposed policy is of  significant importance as it is likely to affect the thousands of people, their employees, tenants, property owners and general public alongwith their countless family members. He said that such an important policy deserves adequate publicity and consultation so that all stakeholders have sufficient time to examine the provisions of the draft policy to submit their well consider feedback.

Sh. Arun Gupta further pointed out that it was obligatory for the housing and urban development department to invite different organization especially Chamber of Commerce & Industry and representatives of the stakeholders before preparing the draft of the said policy and after that the full text of the proposed draft policy should have been published in the newspapers for public comments/suggestions. A mere notification or summary publication that too confined to website does not meet the meaningful public consultations for a policy of this important nature.

Besides this there are technical issues on the department website which are preventing the public from easily downloading the policy documents due to which many stakeholders have been unable to access the draft policy document and thus are unable to file their objections. He said that this is a sufficient reasons that the time period for filing objections / suggestions on the proposed draft policy is extended.

Sh. Arun Gupta further said that though we have submitted a comprehensive document containing our suggestions / objections on the draft policy but still there are so many people who want to give their valuable suggestions in this regard. Therefore we request that the time period for filing of objections and suggestions on the draft policy be extended atleast by 30 days.

Sh. Arun Gupta also said that though the proposed draft policy has provided some relief to the residential lease holders but at the same time we are forced to convey that denial of free hold conversion of commercial lease property is unjustified. They have been allotted land in undeveloped conditions on lease basis after taking a handsome amount as premium by the government. These lease holders have developed the land, constructed permanent structures, employed daily wagers and have also obtain loans from the banks and other financial institutions to run their business smoothly. As per the proposed policy they have no right on the said property which is unjustified and injustice with the commercial lease holders  He said that the government should formulate the policy considering that small traders are involved in this process and not TATAs or Birlas.

Other points highlighted include:

Ø  Premium on renewal of Existing Leases is unjustified

Ø  Premium for free hold conversion of commercial property should not exceed 5% of Circle rates

Ø  Renewal of Lease for 33 years at 150% of circle rates is unjustified

Ø  Renewal should be with minimum charges

Ø  One year time period for construction / completion is unreasonable as it takes 4-8 months to get the maps/building plan approved

Ø  Denial of compensation of building / structures on commercial lease property is unjustified

Ø  Steep increase in rent and 5 years time period for rent revision is too short.

While concluding Sh. Arun Gupta requested the authorities to extend the date for submitting the objections / suggestions of the draft policies by one month.