Lok Sabha Question No. 8 (STARRED), answered on 2017-02-02
Subject: Revival of Closed Jute Mills
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: RAMA DEVI, LAXMAN GILUWA

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*8 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2017

## REVIVAL OF CLOSED JUTE MILLS

## *8. SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI: SHRI LAXMAN GILUWA:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंरी be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of jute mills at present and the number of jute mills out of these which have been closed or are on the verge of closure;
- (b) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  revive  closed  jute  mills  in  the country and if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) the details of various schemes formulated by the Government for reviving the jute mills and the extent to which the said schemes have been implemented; and
- (d) the details of the monitoring mechanism in place for proper implementation of the said schemes?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

वस्त्र मंरी ( )

MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d)  OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *8 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02/02/2017.

(a): At present, there are 97 jute mills in the country, of which 25 mills are closed as  on 11 th January, 2017.

(b): Most of  the  Jute  Mills  are  under  private  management.  The  decision  to close or re-open private jute mills rests with their management. These mills are closed  due  to  various  factors  such  as  low  productivity,  trade  unionism,  raw material  supply,  fall  in  demand  etc.      In  so  far  as  the  Government  mills  are concerned,  under  National  Jute  Manufactures  Corporation  (NJMC),  3  mills namely, Union Jute Mill, Alexandra Jute Mill and National Jute Mills have been closed  as  part  of  the  approved  revival  plan  of  NJMC.  The  operation  of remaining three mills namely, RBHM Jute mill in Katihar, Bihar, Kinnison Jute Mill and Khardah Jute Mill in West Bengal has been suspended due to below benchmark productivity and Industrial Relations problems.

(c) & (d): Government is implementing the following schemes and measures to support the jute manufacturing units and to strengthen the jute sector:-

- (i) Under  the  Jute  Packaging  Materials  (Compulsory  Use  in  Packing Commodities) [JPM Act], 1987, Government specifies the commodities and the extent to which they are mandatorily required to be packed in Jute Packaging Materials. At present, a minimum of 90% of food grains and a minimum of 20% of sugar are to be compulsorily packed in jute sacking. On an average, the annual Government support to jute industry on the account amounts to Rs.5500 crores.
- (ii) Whenever the market price of raw jute falls below a certain level, the Jute Corporation of India (JCI) procures raw jute at Minimum Support Price (MSP), fixed on the basis of recommendation of the commission for  Agricultural  Cost  and  Prices  (CACP)  from  jute  growers  to safeguard their interest. Government of India has sanctioned Rs. 204 crores for four years starting 2014-15 to enable JCI to be in readiness for MSP operations.
- (iii) Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plants and Machinery (ISAPM): Government of India has launched ISAPM for Jute Industry and Jute Diversified Products Manufacturing Units, with effect from 1 st October  2013.  The  basic  aim  of  this  scheme  is  to  facilitate modernization  in  existing  and  new  jute  mills  and  up-  gradation  of technology in existing jute mills and to provide assistance to a large number  of  entrepreneurs  to  manufacture  value  added  biodegradable Jute Diversified Products (JDP) as well as for modernization Jute upgradation of technology.
- (iv) Jute-ICARE  (Jute: Improved  Cultivation and Advanced  Retting Exercise): This pilot project launched in 2015 is aimed at addressing the difficulties faced by the jute cultivators by providing them certified seeds  at  subsidized  rates,  seed  drills  to  facilitate  line  sowing,  nailweeders   to  carry  out  periodic  weeding  and  by  popularising  several newly developed retting technologies under water limiting conditions. This has resulted in increased returns to jute farmers.
- (v) The  National  Jute  Board  implements  various  schemes  for  market development, workers welfare, promotion of diversification and exports.
- (vi) Recently, Government has issued a notification on 5 th January, 2017 imposing  Definitive  Anti-Dumping  Duty  on  jute  goods  originating from Bangladesh and Nepal. Based on the current level of imports, the Industry has estimated that this is likely to generate upto 2 lakh MT of additional demand for jute goods to be met by the Indian Jute industry.

The implementation of above initiatives is monitored by the offices of Jute  Commissioner,  Jute  Corporation  of  India  and  the  National  jute Board under the overall guidance of the Ministry of textiles.

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