The Hindu Business Line : Order for supply of jute bags soon

Kolkata May 10 The first order for supply of B Twill jute bags for the ensuing kharif season is expected to be issued soon by the Office of the Jute Commissioner. A Production Control Order (PCO) for supply of around 1.32 lakh bales of B Twill bags is expected to issued to the jute industry for delivery during the current month.

According to informed sources, for the ensuing kharif crop, the Punjab Government has indented for five lakh bales of B Twill bags with the Directorate-General of Supplies & Disposals (DGS&D). In the first instalment, the DGS&D has issued a "project" to the Jute Commissioner for supply of 1.25 lakh bales. A PCO for this indent, along with perhaps others, is likely to be issued by the Jute Commissioner's office any day now. According to norms, the Jute Commissioner's office issues orders to the mills based on the latter's spindles capacity.

The sources said another order for supply of 40,000 bales of B Twill bags to Food Corporation of India was expected soon. This would be followed by indents for such purchases by Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. In total, Government procurement of B Twill jute bags for packaging of foodgrains for both the rabi and kharif seasons has been pegged at around 15 lakh bales, which translates to around 5-5.5 lakh tonnes.

With the jute industry's production pegged at 16 lakh tonnes and the sugar industry and others accounting for another two lakh tonnes of jute goods, procurement by the Government and the agro sector alone accounts for more than 50 per cent of the jute industry's total production, the sources said. It was in this context that the Jute Mandatory Packaging Order 1987 was of crucial importance to the jute industry, they added.