Sugar and Food Grains Packaging in Jute Bags Now Mandatory

The Union Cabinet on Friday announced norms for mandatory packaging of 20% sugar and 100% food grains in jute bags in an official releases. The decision has been taken to give impetus to the jute bags industry in the country. Also, it will beneficial for the farmers from the eastern and north-eastern states of India.

The Union Minister for Information and Broacasting, Shri Prakash Javadekar speaking on this new decision said, “This is a big decision to boost the demand for jute.” The decision to expand the scope of norms for mandatory packaging is under the Jute Packaging Material (JPM) Act, 1987.

In a meeting chaired by PM Modi, the Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), has decided that initally about 10% of the indents of these bags for food packaging would be done through a reverse auction on the e-marketplace portal of the government.

It is estimated that more than 350,000 workers and thousands of farmer families are dependent on the jute sector, and the government is making conscious efforts to develop the sector and diversify it and boost its demand in the coming days.