Underlining that Jammu & Kashmir was a safe destination for investments, the state wooed the information technology sector by promising investor- friendly policy decisions in the next two months.

"There is a perception of insecurity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We had challenges of terrorism for last 20 years, but that does not mean that one cannot come and invest in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The state in current day scenario is as safe as any other state of India and is wide open for investors or the stakeholder in the sector as any other states of India," Jammu and Kashmir Minister for IT Aga Syed Rhullah Mehdi said at an ASSOCHAM summit on e-governance on Thursday. The minister said his department is working on a policy to set a road-map for the IT sector in the state which will be announced in the next two months.

"My team in the state government is working on a information technology policy in which we will come up with comprehensive detail of what we have to offer to players and investors who want to play a role in the development of Jammu and Kashmir," Mehdi said.

On the sidelines of the event, Mehdi said that state government has already issued draft and the policy should be announced in the next two months. He said that Jammu and Kashmir government is also working to set up an information technology park near Srinagar Airport.

"We are working on ownership of land near Srinagar Airport for an IT park. In a month, we expect that we will have ownership details worked out for the park and then we will further act on it," he said. Mehdi during his speech appreciated the e-governance work done by state of Kerala and Gujarat and said that Jammu and Kashmir is willing to catch up with leading states of India in the field of IT.

"We want to catch up with other states like Bangalore (Karnataka), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Gujarat... which has exceptionally done well in IT," he said.