Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Thursday said that 500 new Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) will be set up in Jammu & Kashmir under the Frontier Region Programme, forming the largest share of the 2,500 labs sanctioned for frontier regions, with an investment of ₹100 crore. These labs, he said, will give school students exposure to cutting-edge tools in robotics, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence, enabling them to innovate at a young age.
Jammu & Kashmir holds the promise to be the torchbearer of India’s journey to Destination 2047, he said.
Speaking at the launch of the ATL Sarthi and Frontier Region Programme of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, at the University of Kashmir, Singh said, as India’s economy moves up from rank 4 to rank 3 and further upward, this value addition will come from regions hitherto under explored and resources hitherto under explored, and J&K qualifies on both the accounts. It is a region which started getting its due attention only after PM Narendra Modi took over in 2014 and its vast resources of Himalayas and rivers also found outlet with the advent of initiatives like Aroma Mission, etc, which were also launched by this government.
The Union Minister said that Jammu & Kashmir has the potential to emerge as a frontline contributor to India’s innovation-led growth story in the next two decades.
Congratulating on the launch of the ATL Sarthi initiative in Srinagar, Singh said, the occasion marks “dual celebration” – for Kashmir University becoming an instrument of engaging J&K as a mainstream player in India’s growth journey and for AIM extending its innovation network to the this peripheral Union Territory.
Highlighting the importance of global benchmarks and public-private collaboration, the Minister said, “Unless we devise a method of involving private players, we cannot sustain growth. Initiatives like InSpace in space research and BIRAC in biotechnology have shown how structured collaboration can succeed.”
The Minister pointed to J&K’s emerging role in areas such as the “Aroma Mission” and floriculture, which have already generated thousands of lavender and flower-based startups. “Today, around 3,500 lavender startups are flourishing in the region. Young people are returning from corporate jobs to take up entrepreneurship in these fields,” he observed, adding that such ventures were redefining opportunities beyond government jobs.
“As we talk of India@2047, the students in these tinkering labs will be in their prime working years. They will be the torchbearers of a developed India, and through them, J&K will already be a torchbearer of the national journey,” Dr. Jitendra Singh said in his concluding remarks.
The launch event also witnessed participation from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Education Minister Sakina Masood, University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nilofer Khan, and AIM Mission Director Dr. Deepak Bagla.