Mhow to Jammu & Kashmir Transport Service

Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consisting of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and China since 1962. The Line of Control separates Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in the west and north. It lies to the north of the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and to the west of Ladakh, which is also subject to the dispute as a part of Kashmir, and administered by India as a union territory.

Provisions for the formation of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir were contained within the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which was passed by both houses of the Parliament of India in August 2019. The act re-constituted the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with effect from 31 October 2019.

Jammu and Kashmir’s economy is primarily services-based and agriculture-oriented. The gross domestic product of Jammu and Kashmir is estimated at ₹1.76 lakh crore (US$23 billion) in 2020–21.

The Kashmir Valley is known for its sericulture and cold-water fisheries. Wood from Kashmir is used to make high-quality cricket bats, popularly known as Kashmir Willow. Major agricultural exports from Jammu and Kashmir include apples, pears, cherries, plums, saffron and walnuts. The traditional Kashmiri handicrafts industry employs a large workforce of around 340 thousand artisans and has potential for producing export goods. 

Small-scale cottage industries include carpet weaving, silks, shawls, basketry, pottery, copper and silverware, papier-mâché and walnut wood. The horticulture sector is the next biggest source of income in the economy. The temperature of Jammu and Kashmir is also suited to floriculture and can support various species of flora.

Over 500 mineral blocks are present in Jammu and Kashmir, 261 of which are in the Kashmir Division alone. Kishtwar is known as the ‘land of sapphire and saffron’. Resources such as timber, herbs and medicinal shrubs, edibles such as mushroom, chilgoza, black zeera and saffron are available in the forests. 

The sapphire reserve mines of Machail, Paddar are a source of mineral wealth. Jammu and Kashmir is the only administrative unit in India with a large amount of borax and sapphire resources. It possesses 36 percent of the graphite, 21 percent marble and 14 percent of gypsum present in India. Coal, limestone and magnesite are found scattered among the different districts of the union territory.

Other minerals of significance that occur are bauxite, ball clay and china clay in Udhampur; bentonite in Jammu; diaspore in Rajouri and Udhampur; graphite in Baramulla; lignite and marble in Kupwara; quartz and silica sand in Anantnag, Doda and Udhampur; and quartzite in Anantnag district. In addition, the Department of Geology and Mining has determined the presence of minerals such as magnetite, dolomite, fuel mineral, decorative building stones, slate and gemstones, materials with commercial and industrial uses in many products and factories.

In the fiscal year 2019–20, total exports from Jammu and Kashmir amounted to ₹188.18 million (US$2.5 million). The Jammu & Kashmir Bank, which is listed as a NIFTY 500 conglomerate, is based in the union territory. Jammu and Kashmir is one of the largest recipients of grants from the central government annually. According to the Sustainable Development Goals Index 2021, 10.35 percent of the population of Jammu and Kashmir live below the national poverty line, the third-highest among union territories in the country.