Jute production drops, fails to meet Govt deadline

26 Sep '08

2 min read

An estimate made for the months till August 2008 revealed that jute production has dropped considerably to 80-85 lakh bales as against 97 lakh bales recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal.

This has put pressure on mills across the country that are faced with meeting Government's target of 11 lakh bales in the period June to September this year.

Mr Arun Lohia, committee member of the Indian Jute Mills Association, Kolkata, said that the mills requested the government to extend the deadline and the government agreed to the proposal by changing it to October 15.

Hrishikesh Shroff, president of the Gunny Traders Association, told the reporters during the 83rd annual general meeting of the Gunny Traders Association on the Indian Chamber of Commerce premises yesterday that, "The government requisitioned 15 lakh bales in 2007-08, but this year the demand for jute for the government's foodgrain procurement programme is 11 lakh bales for June to October alone owing to bumper crop production (rice and wheat)."

Mr Shroff also noted that the Government procures jute at a price of Rs32,000 per ton. Usually, the Government demand is for about 1.5-2 lakh bales per month, but this year the requirement has gone up. In fact, even the price of raw jute and finished jute goods has increased by 25 percent in the last three months.

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