The Hindu Business Line : Plastic woven sack units make case for bagging more biz

Scope aplenty

Frequent strikes by jute mills have led to serious shortages of jute sacks, which in turn has created huge scope for an alternative option.

Plastic woven bags are also cheaper than jute.

Kolkata March 31 Describing PP/HDPE woven sacks (broadly known as plastic woven sacks) as the best alternative to jute bags for packaging of foodgrain and sugar, the All India Flat Tape Manufacturers Association (AIFTMA) and Indian Plastics Federation (IPF) on Saturday made a joint appeal for more orders from the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGSND) for PWS.

Anti-slip technology

Stating that industry responded positively to a recent very short tender notice (lead time of just a few weeks) for supplying anti-slip woven sacks, industry representatives said the units were now speedily introducing the anti-slip technology to rapidly deliver the desired product.

It is pointed out that except for the initial supplies, subsequent order supplies would be from ex-stock, if regular procurement of HDPE bags, such as jute bags, was made by the Government.

The industry now supplies 300 crore bags to the cement sector, 75 crore bags for urea packing, and in the last season (during the jute mill strike), sugar packaging (some 10 crore bags) was made possible because of supply of PP/HDPE bags by the units.

The manufacturing units in this sector are generally SMEs.

The plastic woven sacks industry has pointed out that frequent strikes by jute mills have led to serious shortages of jute sacks, which in turn has created huge scope for an alternative option.

Cheaper option

Addressing newspersons here, Mr K.D. Agarwal, vice-president of AIFTMA and Honorary Secretary, IPF, said PWS was now used worldwide for packaging of food grains and sugar and that it was also much cheaper than jute bags.

He said under the Jute Packaging Materials Act of 1987, 100 per cent usage of jute bags was ensured for bulk packaging, but owing to frequent strikes by the jute mills (the last one lasted for over 60 days and was called off on March 8, 2007), shortages have emerged.

He said the DGSND never procured PP/HDPE bags since most of the members of the industry bodies were not registered with the Government's procurement department.

Mr Agarwal also pointed out that the woven sacks industry today was fully capable of manufacturing and supplying PP/HDPE bags for packing food grain and sugar, with antislip weaving, as laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards. He also mentioned that there was no conflict between the members of AIFTMA and IPF.

It may be mentioned that AIFTMA had been fighting the JPMA for quite some time now, strengthened by a Gujarat High Court decision, directing that 25 per cent of bulk food grains and 30 per cent of sugar be packed in alternative (other than jute) packaging.

`More revenue'

According to Mr Agarwal, usage of PP/HDPE bags will generate higher revenue for the government, as jute bags are exempted from excise duty. Users, he claimed, would save more than Rs 1,800 crore annually by using the PP/HDPE woven sacks, which were cheaper than jute bags, even after adding excise and VAT.