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Union minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday said his goal is to increase the price of finished jute bags from Rs 1,15,000 per tonne to Rs 2 lakh in the near future, driven by value addition through innovations and modernisation efforts. Speaking to reporters here, the Union minister of textiles said, "This is possible with close coordination between all stakeholders, including the government, mills, and farmers." He also informed that the Centre had approved a new pricing formula for jute bags meant for government procurement for foodgrains packaging. Singh said, "the sale of jute products is expected to cross Rs 14,000 crore this year," demonstrating the growth and potential of the industry. The growth of the golden fibre, he said, "will benefit around 4 lakh jute mill workers and 40 lakh farmer families engaged in its cultivation, primarily in West Bengal." During his visit to ICAR-CRIJAF, Barrackpore, the minister met industry representatives to review the sector and discussed "va
The Indian Jute Mills Association highlighted several pressing issues at the 32nd Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting in New Delhi, including the challenges faced by the sector due to declining demand for jute bags, officials said. Key stakeholders such as representatives from the sugar and plastic industry bodies participated in the meeting on Tuesday. The SAC makes recommendations to the Union government on the mandatory use of jute packaging materials, and packaging norms for essential commodities such as foodgrains and sugar. The Jute Commissioner's Office (JCO) stressed upon the need for supporting the sector, the IJMA officials said. An estimated 40 million farmers and 3.5 lakh jute mill workers are dependent on the industry. The representatives of sugar industry bodies raised concerns about the pricing and quality of jute bags, urging the government to fix rates for sugar jute bags. "They also noted the reluctance by major buyers like some beverage giants to use jute
The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) has written to West Bengal Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak, expressing grave concern over incidents of "violent assault on management personnel and unlawful strikes" at member mills. In the recent letter, IJMA highlighted the issue of worker indiscipline and "attempts by the management to ensure discipline and enhance productivity being repeatedly opposed by a section of workers with the help of trade union representatives". The letter said there was a violent assault on management personnel and unlawful strikes at Alliance Mills (Lessees) Ltd recently. The association stated that these incidents have "created an atmosphere of panic and uncertainty amongst the managerial and supervisory personnel of the mills," leading to a reluctance among them to attend to their duties. This has resulted in a significant decline in production and productivity in the affected jute mills. IJMA also raised concerns over incidents of vandalism that have endanger
India has extended anti-dumping duty on imports of certain jute products from Nepal and Bangladesh for five years, a move aimed at protecting domestic players from cheap inbound shipments. These duties were imposed following recommendations of the commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR). The DGTR, in its probe in September last year, concluded that there is continued dumping of these products from Nepal and Bangladesh and the imports are likely to enter the Indian market at dumped prices in the event of cessation of existing duty. It had recommended continued imposition of the anti-dumping duty on the imports to remove injury to the domestic industry. According to a notification of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the duty imposed "shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)". The duty ranges between USD 6.3 per tonne and USD 351.72 per tonne. It is applicable to produc