Update : Jute Production In India

In a written reply given by the Union Minister of Textiles to the Rajya Sabha, the nation has been apprised of the current status of jute industry in the country.

Jute Industry in India

• The India jute industry is an integral part of the Indian Textile Industry and is predominantly represented in the eastern part of India.
• While British India had a near monopoly in the world trade of jute manufactures, the monopoly came to an end when the country was partitioned.
• While all the jute mills came to India, only 19% of the area under jute cultivation came to India s share while Pakistan got 81% of the jute area but no jute mills.
• This made the supply of raw-jute a major problem for the jute industry with Indian Mills having to rely on the supply of raw jute from Pakistan.
• This forced the Indian government to increase jute cultivation and lessen the import share of raw-jute in Indian Mills.
• Today. while India has an effective installed capacity of around 16.5 lakh metric tonne, the total production of jute is limited to around 11.5 lakh metric tonnes in the country.
• The difference in the production and capacity of jute is mainly attributed to the labor issues, primarily the shortage of labor.

What is being done?

The existing jute machines are currently been modernized to increase their productivity and reduce their labor costs. These efforts are currently being implemented by the National Jute Board (NJB). A total of 10 composite jute manufacturing units have also been established in the last five years.