Jute policy okay soon

The Jute Technology Mission, approved by the Planning Commission will be forwarded for cabinet approval within a month, R Poornalingam, secretary of the union ministry of textile said.

The corpus for the mission was Rs 350 crore spread over five years, he said on the sidelines of a workshop on the jute Industry here by Webcon and some other agencies.

Under the National Jute Policy 2005, a jute board to integrate all existing agencies will be set up in three months.

Poornalingam said all proposals will be individually examined and fund would not be a constraint for development of the jute sector.

The West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee demanded at the meeting that sugar packing be done entirely in jute bags against the current norm of 90 per cent packing.

"The 100 per cent reservation issue in sugar packing will be considered," said Poornalingam.

The share of diversified products in total product mix should rise to 20 per cent in five years from 5 per cent now.

Sabyasachi Sen, principal secretary of Bengal's commerce and industries department said a jute park would be set up in the state and the process of identifying land for the park was reportedly on.

An area of 100 acres around Uluberia or Kalyani would be ideal, and a special purpose vehicle will be floated to set up the jute park in a year.