GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING HIGHER
INCENTIVES FOR NEW JUTE MILLS : SHAHNAWAZ HUSSAIN
The Government is
considering a proposal to increase the subsidy on setting up new
jute mills to 20 percent from the existing level of ten percent.
The enhanced subsidy will be applicable to mills coming up in
areas having inadequate processing facilities. This was announced
by the Textiles Minister Shri Syed Shahnawaz Hussain while speaking
at the national seminar on ‘Jute Geotextiles and Innovative Jute
Products’ here today. The Minister said, out of the existing 78
jute mills in the country, 61 are located in West Bengal. The
Government is also considering a proposal for more and more use
of jute in the government run organisations for which preliminary
discussions have been held with the Planning Commission. The Minister
said, a proposal in this regard will be sent to the Cabinet for
approval.
Shri Shahnawaz Hussain
said, the Textile Ministry has also proposed to launch a Jute
Technology Mission in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture
with a view to increase the productivity in jute, reduce the crop
cycle, improve fibre-quality, ensure availability of quality seeds
and create strong market linkages by establishing and upgrading
marketing infrastructure in jute growing states. The Jute Technology
Mission will equip the jute farmers with reliable market information,
increase productivity in the organised sector and develop and
produce new jute-diversified products, train workers to improve
the existing production technology and develop new designs.
Delivering the inaugural
address the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Shri K.C. Pant
emphasized the need to be market-sensitive and look for new areas.
He said the demand for technical fabric is growing at the rate
of four percent and by 2010, the total demand will be of the order
of 23.8 million tonnes, valued at 120 billion US Dollars. He said,
jute geotextile has application in soil conservation and in the
road sector and the demand for geotextile will grow at the rate
of ten percent per year for the next 4 to 5 years. He called upon
the participants to convert jute from being an industry of the
past to being the industry of the future by tuning themselves
to the changing requirements. Shri Pant said, excessive dependence
on hydro-carbon based products has resulted in price fluctuations
in times of crisis. There is also a growing realisation that use
of non-biodegradable items is creating havoc in the treatment
of waste material.
Speaking on the occasion
the Textile Secretary Shri S.B. Mohapatra said that the time has
come to take a quantum jump in the area of geotextiles. He said,
higher value addition will not only benefit the industry, it will
also help the farmers. He said, for this we have to make drastic
departures from the existing production and marketing approach.
The two day national
seminar has been organised by the Jute Manufactures Development
Council in association with the Jute Commissioner, National Centre
for Jute Diversification, Indian Jute Industries Research Association,
Institute of Jute Technology, Indian Jute Mills Association, Central
Road Research Institute, New Delhi and Central Pulp and Paper
Research Institute, Saharanpur. Decision makers from the public
sector, key personalities from the Jute industry, experts and
academics of eminence are taking part in the two day seminar.
The seminar will prepare a road map for promotion of innovative
jute based technical products.
