5 jute mills in West Bengal get govt nod to resume ops

Five jute mills in West Bengal got the approval of the state government to resume operations amid a huge pending order for packaging materials.

The industry was disappointed with a handful of mills getting approval to operate despite repeated interventions from the Centre which fears that prolonged closure may lead to a shortage of packaging materials, especially foodgrains.

The units have received permission to operate only with 50 workers, according to a mill owner.

Around 60 units in West Bengal, most of which are located in North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Hooghly and Howrah districts, were awaiting the government's nod to resume operations from Monday and of them, only five got the approval, according to industry sources.

India Jute Mills Association (IJMA) president Raghav Gupta said operations of jute mills with such a low workforce were not feasible and said they should be allowed to work in at least two shifts.

Meanwhile, the Bengal Chatkal Mazdoor Union demanded that mill owners pay all the workers irrespective of the number of people permitted to work.

The West Bengal government said it has permitted nearly 300 other enterprises to resume operations out of 1,500 applications received.

The government has rejected applications of 375 industrial units that are located in the containment or hotspot zones, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said.

"We are also not providing passes to the labourers and people from this containment areas to go out and work," he said.

Some units in Falta Special Economic Zone in South 24 Parganas district received permission to start operations but with limited manpower, sources said.

A few units in Bantala Leather Complex near Kolkata also got approval to start functioning, they said.

Steel TMT bar makers in the state said they do not want to resume operations until construction activities commence as they are saddled with huge stock.

Century Plyboards said they are trying to resume operations and conglomerate ITC said the company will continue to focus on manufacturing essential items.

JSW Cement resumed operations at its Salboni plant, while Vikram Solar and Jaypee Engineering were also among those to restart activities.

According to the guidelines issued by the Centre on April 15, industrial units operating in rural areas have been permitted to function from April 20 with strict social distancing norms.

Manufacturing, industrial units with access control in SEZs, Export Oriented Units, industrial estates, industrial townships have been allowed. However, it will not apply in containment zones, as demarcated by States/ UTs/ district administrations.