Jammu, Feb 6: The Tourism Industry is a key pillar of economic growth and livelihood generation, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, while announcing measures to promote sustainable tourism, pilgrimage infrastructure and cultural preservation in the annual budget for 2026-27.
Presenting the budget in the assembly, Abdullah said that despite challenges such as the Pahalgam terror attack incident and subsequent floods, Jammu and Kashmir recorded over 1.61 crore tourist visits in 2025, reflecting resilience and sustained confidence in the destination.
Abdullah said that the government remains committed to ensuring the safety and comfort of pilgrims visiting the Shri Amarnath Ji shrine. Tourism diversification through winter sports, water sports and adventure tourism is underway, with water sports facilities being developed at Wullar-Manasbal and Bani-Basohli.
He said more than 200 infrastructure works for the annual pilgrimage were completed during 2025-26, and proposed an outlay of Rs 180 crore during 2026-27 to further modernise pilgrimage infrastructure in partnership with the Border Roads Organisation.
He said that the J&K Tourism mobile app has been launched to provide verified real-time information, integrated booking services and AI-based assistance to tourists. He spoke lot of flaws in Tourism Department in issuing various NOC's for public works & added to fix timeline for various issues in Tourism Dept.to reduce under table system & for deemed sanctioned.
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