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The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) has urged the Centre to urgently intervene to control spiralling raw jute prices and ensure availability of the fibre, proposing a complete ban on raw jute trading by private traders after March 31. In a letter to jute commissioner Amrit Raj, the association said raw jute availability with mills has sharply decreased, with stocks declining by around 1.25 lakh bales in December 2025 alone, even as prices surged to an unprecedented Rs 13,000 per quintal for South Bengal TDN-3 grade. The situation has forced several mills to shut down or drastically cut production, rendering over 75,000 workers jobless, the association claimed. To arrest price escalation, IJMA proposed that traders, dealers, stockists and agencies be given time till March 31 to liquidate their raw jute stocks, after which any private trading in raw jute would become illegal. During this period, mills are expected to consume around 12-15 lakh bales, enabling them to hold stocks
The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) is expected to procure at least 50 per cent more raw fibre in the current jute year (2023-24) than the previous year, in the wake of a bumper season of the crop, a senior official said on Wednesday. The JCI is mandated by the government to carry out Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations for raw jute from farmers. This year, the average MSP price is Rs 5,050 per quintal. "In the current jute crop year of 2023-24, which began on July 1, raw jute procurement is very high. As of mid-September, we have already procured 2.30 lakh quintals. We expect the operation to run for the entire year and the total procurement to be over 50 per cent, or 6-7 lakh quintals over the previous year," JCI General Manager K Mazumdar told PTI. In the last fiscal jute season, the JCI procured a record 4.34 lakh quintals of jute. "This year is a bumper jute crop and production is expected to be 91 lakh bales," Mazumdar said. He said that 110 direct JCI procurement centres
In what may signal a makeover of the Jute Corporation of India (JCI), the state controlled agency is planning a tie-up with Patanjali Ayurved Ltd for branding and promotion of jute diversified products like mini shopping bags and some fashion items.Historically, JCI has been tasked with undertaking MSP (Minimum Support Price) operations of raw jute. JCI diversifying to marketing and branding of value added jute products indicates the corporation reinventing its role. JCI's chairman cum managing director (CMD) KVR Murthy is understood to have visited the Patanjali's headquarters at Haridwar to discuss the tie-up. The issue of recasting JCI's role also cropped up during a recent meeting of the Union textiles ministry. It was decided to market value added and fashionable jute products under the 'Sonali' brand. If the deal with Patanjali fructifies, JCI intends to introduce mini shopping bags at Patanjali stores in metro cities. A collaboration with Patanjali, one of the fastest growing ..