Lok Sabha Question No. 328 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-19
Subject: Closure of Jute Mills
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: SAUGATA ROY

## CLOSURE OF JUTE MILLS

## 328. PROF. SAUGATA ROY:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंरी be pleased to state

- (a) the details of steps taken so far to open the closed jute mills in the country;
- (b) the number of employees lost their livelihood due to closure of jute mills in the country, State-wise:
- (c) whether the textile industry is showing signs of recovery: and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the present status of export from textile sector?

## उत्तर ANSWER वस्त्र मंरी ( श्री अज )

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SHRI AJAY TAMTA)

- (a)& (b): Government has been taking a large number of measures for supporting the jute manufacturing units and for strengthening the jute sector. These include:-
- (i) To  ensure  consistent  demand  for  jute  mills,  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 this account amounts to Rs. 6500 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.Further, a fund of Rs.100 crores has been approved for 2018-19 and 201920.
- (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 1st 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 and up-gradation 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, nail-weeders  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) The Government issued a notification on 5th January, 2017 imposing Definitive AntiDumping Duty on jute goods originating from Bangladesh and Nepal. Based on the current level of imports, the Industry has estimated that this has created scope for upto 2 lakh MT of additional demand for jute goods to be met by the Indian Jute industry.

Most of the Jute Mills are under Private Management. Closing and reopening of jute mills is a cyclical process which depends on various factors of production such as low productivity, trade unionism, raw material supply, fall in demand etc. The detail of loss of livelihood due to closure of mills is not compiled.

- (c) & (d): The performance of textile sector in terms of production of yarn/fabric and export of textiles items during the past three years has been as follows:

| Item                              |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18(Prov.) |
|-----------------------------------|-----------|-----------|------------------|
| Spun Yarn (Mn Kg)                 |      5665 |      5659 |             5668 |
| Man-made fibre (Mn Kg)            |      1347 |      1364 |             1319 |
| Man-made filament yarn (Mn Kg)    |      1164 |      1159 |             1187 |
| Cloth Production (Mn Sq. Mtr)     |     65505 |     64421 |            67488 |
| Export of textile items (Mn US $) |     36748 |     36630 |            36620 |

**********