Ladakh, continuous to be an inhospitable terrain, with features like high attitude, cold climate, vast geographical area and its population. Accessibility issues have always rendered setting up of industries which make it a highly challenging task. An extremely thinly populated UT, Ladakh has a density of only 5 persons per sq. km. with abundance of land and natural resources available in the region, the UT of Ladakh holds great potential to foster startups and innovative ideas. The Directorate of Industries & Commerce, Ladakh was established vide J&K Govt. order No. 47-LA of 2019, dated 15-10-2019, where under separate Directorate was created for Ladakh Division to ensure the speedy development of Industries.
The small scale and cottage industries sector in Ladakh is a mine of untapped potential.Not only does it have within it the promise to generate all the jobs that Ladakh’s unemployed youth will need in the coming years, it also has the capacity to produce significant monetary gains for those intrepid enough to enter this new sector. Blessed with a variety of resources such as apricots, pashmina wool, and exceedingly skilled craftsmen, Ladakh today stands poised at the threshold of generating a wave of economic prosperity for its people, unprecedented in history.
There are however several obstacles that stand between Ladakh and the rich bounty that its people can harvest by way of industrial development. Not least among these is the lack of entrepreneurship amongst the local population, which severely hampers their ability to experiment in this field. Other serious problems include infrastructure and technology issues, and Ladakh’s harsh physical conditions themselves. The need of the hour is to overcome these difficulties and grasp the potential of the industries sector in Ladakh with both hands– a development that could prove to be of monumental significance for this region in years to come.
The directorate also aims to promote industries through different departments such as handicrafts, handloom and geology & mining by the way of forming co-operative societies, by organizing exhibitions/ craft markets. By skill up-gradation of weavers by providing modernized looms, training in design and weaving, marketing of Handloom products through marketing incentives and by fostering participation of weavers at District, National and International level expos and melas. By exploring the mineral wealth for development and promotion of mineral based industries for the process of extraction and use of various minerals by developing industries in rural/urban area.
