The first thing travellers see when they enter Jammu & Kashmir by road is Lakhanpur — and soon, that first impression is set to come with a plate of hot Dogra street food. Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has announced that Lakhanpur, the UT's gateway town, will be developed as a Street Food Hub under the PM SVANidhi scheme, along with a ₹1.5-crore “Gateway to J&K” monument and beautification works.
The food hub will come up across two clusters in Lakhanpur market — near the Old Bus Stand and the Sales Tax Office — spread over roughly 1,754 square metres, with a deliberate focus on Dogra cuisine and regional delicacies. Lakhanpur is one of just 50 towns chosen across India for street-food-hub development, selected from 126 proposals sent in by 32 states and union territories. The gateway monument, funded through the MPLADS scheme, is designed to give visitors a striking welcome as they cross into J&K.
Why this is a youth story, not just a civic one
Street food hubs are, at their heart, small-business engines. PM SVANidhi exists to formalise and support street vendors — a group the minister noted had “remained outside the policy focus of successive governments” for years. A dedicated, well-built food hub means cleaner stalls, footfall from every vehicle entering the UT, and a real shot for young entrepreneurs to run a viable food business rather than an informal cart on the roadside.
For young people in Jammu, there are a few angles worth watching:
A first-taste showcase for Dogra food. Rajma-chawal, kaladi, ambal, patisa and more — finally getting a purpose-built stage at the state's front door, where every road traveller has to stop anyway.
Micro-entrepreneurship. PM SVANidhi offers collateral-free working-capital loans to vendors; a structured hub makes it far easier for young food entrepreneurs to plug in, build a brand and grow.
A new weekend-trip idea. Lakhanpur is an easy run from Jammu city — a future foodie pit-stop worth bookmarking once the hub is up and running.
Big monuments and hub announcements can take time to become reality, so the real test will be execution and how quickly the clusters actually open. But the intent — putting Dogra street food and its young vendors in the spotlight at the very gateway to J&K — is one worth cheering, and worth keeping an eye on as construction begins.
Source: Daily Excelsior — Dr Jitendra announces Rs 1.5 cr Gateway to J&K, Street Food Hub at Lakhanpur.
