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The jute industry, which is struggling to cope with sharp fall in orders of jute bags, has got a breather. The Textile Ministry has decided that there will be no further dilution in the rules for compulsory use of such bags for packaging of foodgrain and sugar this year.
However, at a meeting with representatives of the jute industry recently, senior officials from the Textile Ministry said that next year, the mandated requirement for jute bags for packaging foodgrain will be watered down further, resulting in lower orders for jute mills.
“A meeting was called by the Textiles Secretary recently to review the minimum use of jute bags recommended by the standing advisory committee, as it had received adverse comments from the Ministries of Food, Finance and Fertilisers & Chemicals, which felt it was too high,” Indian Jute Manufacturing Association (IJMA) chief Raghavendra Gupta told BusinessLine.
Much to the jute industry’s relief, the Textiles Ministry decided to retain the recommendation of 90 per cent minimum jute for foodgrain and 20 per cent for sugar, as recommended by the standing advisory committee for the current season.
“But we were told to reduce our dependence on the Jute Packaging Material Act (JPMA) as it would be diluted more next year,” Gupta said.
The process of dilution of the Act – which mandates use of jute for packaging of sugar and foodgrain – started during the UPA regime. The sugar industry, in particular, is up in arms against the provisions of the Act as it finds plastic bags to be a cheaper option.
Because of continuous dilution of the JPMA, the jute industry is reeling under demand crisis over the last year and a half, with over seven-eight mills closing down and production being cut across the industry. This has left about one lakh workers jobless, according to IJMA.
The price of raw jute has also slumped by over 15 per cent over the last two months.
Jute manufacturers have asked the Government to help promote alternative uses of jute in areas such as geo-textiles. “States such as West Bengal will find jute geo-textiles very useful in all three major areas of their applications – road construction, river bank protection and slope management. The material has been accepted by some other States and the Indian Railways for alternative applications,” according to IJMA
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