J&K Bank PMEGP case: ED attaches 11 properties worth Rs 10.63 crore

The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Srinagar Zonal Office has provisionally attached 11 properties worth about Rs 10.63 crore in Srinagar and Bandipora districts in a money-laundering case over the alleged misuse of the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) through Jammu and Kashmir Bank branches, the agency said on Monday, 9 November 2026. According to the ED, the properties, lands and buildings, belong to suppliers who also acted as brokers and to a J&K Bank official accused of involvement. The case involves loans with outstanding dues of about Rs 32 crore that turned into non-performing assets.

PMEGP is a central government scheme meant to help people, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, start small businesses and create jobs. It works through bank loans, with a part of the project cost covered by a government subsidy. Because the subsidy is public money and the loans come from banks, misuse hurts twice: the government's support does not reach genuine entrepreneurs, and the bank is left with loans that are not repaid.

The method the ED describes has three parts: borrowers who existed only on paper, invoices from firms that did not exist, and bank staff who allegedly approved the loans. In this case the agency says the scale ran to 540 loan accounts across two branches in north Kashmir. If proven, that would mean a large share of the scheme's benefits in those areas went to a small group of people instead of new businesses.

The attachment is a step under the money-laundering law, which lets the ED freeze assets it believes were bought with the proceeds of crime so that they cannot be sold while the case goes on. A provisional attachment must be confirmed by an adjudicating authority under the PMLA, and those affected can contest it. None of the people involved has been convicted, and the allegations remain to be tested in court.

For citizens in Jammu and Kashmir who want to use PMEGP to start a business, the case is a reminder that the scheme runs through official channels, and that any middleman offering a loan in exchange for a cut or a fake bill is breaking the law.

Peepals calculation: The two sets of 270 accounts make 540 PMEGP-linked loan accounts (270 × 2). Spread across them, the Rs 32 crore of dues works out to an average of about Rs 5.9 lakh per account (32,00,00,000 ÷ 540 ≈ 5,92,600). The properties attached so far, worth Rs 10.63 crore, equal about a third of the outstanding dues (10.63 ÷ 32 ≈ 0.33). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: The attached properties cannot be sold or transferred while the case proceeds. The ED's investigation continues, and more action could follow.

Long-term: The case may lead to tighter checks on PMEGP loans in Jammu and Kashmir, such as closer verification of suppliers and borrowers, and could affect how banks in the region process subsidy-linked loans.

Who is affected: Genuine PMEGP applicants in Jammu and Kashmir, J&K Bank and its staff, the suppliers and borrowers under investigation, and the agencies that fund and run the scheme.

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