BHUBANESWAR: In a major relief to over 3.7 lakh workers engaged in the jute industry, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved the extension of norms for mandatory packaging in jute materials under the Jute Packaging Material (JPM) Act, 1987.
The CCEA approved that “100 per cent of food grains and 20 per cent of sugar shall be packed in diversified jute bags”. Initially, 10 per cent of the indents of jute bags for packing food grains would be placed through a reverse auction on the Government e-Market (GeM) portal. This will gradually usher in a regime of price discovery, according to an official statement.
Earlier, it was compulsory to pack 90 per cent of food grains and 20 per cent of sugar in jute bags. The jute industry is predominantly dependent on the government sector, which purchases jute bags worth more than Rs 6,500 crore every year for packing food grains.