Govt may not ban import of jute goods

The government is not considering ban on import of jute goods from Bangladesh and Nepal, as it may be counter productive for the economy, Minister of State for Textiles Panabaaka Lakshmi told Rajya Sabha today.

"The government is not considering any ban on the import of jute goods as it would be counter productive for the economy," Lakshmi said in a written reply.

The minister said import of jute goods are a miniscule proportion of the domestic production.

The government is also not considering any proposal to impose quantitative restrictions or duty on import of raw jute from Bangladesh, Lakshmi said.

The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) had submitted a pre-budget representation in January 2008 seeking intervention of textiles ministry on the issue of duty-free import of raw jute from Bangladesh and had requested for re-imposition of import duty.