Sarda plans Rs100cr Alwar jute mill

Kolkata-based Sarda Group has lined up an investment of Rs 100 crore towards setting up a jute mill in Alwar, Rajasthan.

It is also eying the acquisition of a sick government-owned jute mill called Konark Jute Mill at Dhanmandal in Orissa through bidding. The company had offered Rs 10 crore for the mill, which can process about 30 ton of raw jute per day, to the Orissa government, said Ghanshyam Sarda of the Sarda Group.

"The Rajasthan facility is aimed at tapping the northern India market, as about 50 per cent of the demand for jute sacks is in that region. The new mill will also have a 2 lakh square feet of warehouse facility, enabling us sale of jute sacks directly to farmers at relatively cheaper," he said at a press conference in Kolkata.

Sarda Group would be setting up two jute-training institutes for unskilled workers inside its existing jute mills at Agarpara and Titagarh in West Bengal, he said.

Six month training at the institute will involve internship at the jute mill where it is located, against stipend starting Rs 30 per day and meals for the trainees.

Every month, about 100 new trainees would be absorbed in each of the institutes, Sarda said.

Nearly 10 such institutes, with each involving an investment of about Rs 3 crore, were planned across the country in the next three years, he added.

The jute sector employed about 30 million people but faced 50 per cent shortage of skilled labour, claimed Sarda.

Repeated strikes at jute mills by regular workers over issues like bonus payment were one of the worries facing jute mill owners.

Sarda Group managed 10 jute mills in the country, with eight being in West Bengal, with combined capacity of 500 ton per day.

It employed about 20,000 workers in West Bengal alone.

The 15-acre Rajasthan facility would processing capacity of 60 ton of raw jute per day.

The fund for the expansion would be raised through debt and internal accruals, said Sarda.