 "jute")
The West Bengal government is in favour of the continuation of price sealing either on raw jute or hessian sacks as the authorities cannot allow persistent price rise of the foodgrain packaging material, an official said on Friday.
A high-level meeting was held this evening at the state secretariat 'Nabanna' in the presence of chief secretary, labour minister and law minister, he said.
Jute commissioner, state enforcement department officials and representatives of Indian Jute Mills Association were also present at the meeting.
The state government has decided to carry out operations to stop hoarding of raw jute as it believes hoarders are dictating the price in markets, the official said.
"The government has mandated us to come out with a suggestion on how to keep jute bag price at check. During the meeting, the state administration said the price cap has to continue either on raw jute or on finished bags as the government cannot allow continuous price rise of bags which it procured for packaging of foodgrains," IJMA chairman Raghavendra Gupta told PTI.
The millers' body will hold an emergency meeting and inform the government about the price-check suggestion by Saturday evening, he said.
IJMA was seeking removal of the raw jute price sealing as it has "led to a shortage of the raw material" for the industry, impacting the production and supply of hessian sacks.
A Jute mill owner said the state government had pushed the onus on the millers.
The Jute Commissioner's office had imposed a price ceiling of Rs 6,500 per quintal on raw jute trade in order to ensure supply of raw material to the mills at a fair price. It had also fixed jute stock limit for different categories of stakeholders.
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