(a) whether the Government proposes to establish a ‘Jute park’ in Andhra Pradesh through Public Private Partnership at an estimated cost of Rs.100 crore which will have a potential to create employment for about 20,000 people, and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government proposes to incentivize jute industry in view of the hardship being faced by it, and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of the jute industries located in Andhra Pradesh and their manufacturing capacity;

(d) the details of jute products such as executive bags, wall hangings and interior decoration items being exported to other countries indicating the names of the countries; and

(e) if so, the details of jute exported from the country during each of the last three years?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES
(SHRI AJAY TAMTA)

(a) to (c): Andhra Pradesh has 13 jute mills. At present, there is no proposal for setting up of ‘Jute Park’ in Andhra Pradesh through Public Private Partnership. However, the Government has taken several initiatives for promotion of the jute industry. These include:

(i) The Jute Packaging Material (Compulsory Use in Packaging Commodities) Act, 1987 (JPM Act) has been enacted in the interests of production of raw jute and jute packaging material, and of persons engaged in the production thereof. Accordingly, as per the Schedule of Notification No. S.O. 126(E) dated 14.1.2016 issued under the JPM Act, stipulates the minimum percentages of total production of commodity or class of commodities that are required to be packed in jute packaging material manufactured in India and raw jute produced in India. The same has since been extended upto 30th September, 2016 vide Notification No. 2224(E) dated 28.6.2016.

(ii) A pilot project Jute-ICARE (Jute Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise) has been launched in January, 2015, in selected Blocks of West Bengal and Assam where jute cultivation is popular to improve income of farmers through both increase in yield and improvement in quality of fibres. The project is being implemented by NJB in association with Jute Corporation of India Ltd. (JCI) and Central Research Institute for Jute & Allied Fibres, (CRIJAF), and Ministry of Agriculture.

(iii) A Jute Design Cell for development of Jute Shopping Bags and Lifestyle Accessories has been set up at the Innovative Centre for Natural Fibres (ICNF) of National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.

(iv) A scheme for setting up of Common Facility Centres (CFCs) has been launched in September, 2015 for providing support to Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) on training, infrastructure/ machinery and marketing to artisans in development of Jute Diversified Products in 7 WSHG clusters; 5 in West Bengal and 1 each in Assam and Bihar.

(v) National Jute Board (NJB) is implementing an ‘Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plant and Machinery’ (ISAPM) which was started in 2013-14. The objective of this scheme is to facilitate modernisation in existing and new jute mills and upgradation of technologies in existing jute mills. The scheme also envisages providing assistance to a large number of entrepreneurs for manufacturing of value added biodegradable jute diversified products as well as modernisation and upgradation of technology. The incentive is provided at 20% of the cost of machinery acquired by Jute Mills and units in the decentralised sector. The overall ceiling for each unit is Rs.2.50 crores in 4 years.

(vi) Assistance is provided to jute mills for establishing sanitation facilities under Workers’ Welfare Scheme to provide hygienic sanitation facilities for mill workers.

(vii) A scholarship scheme for educational support is implemented by NJB, to motivate the family for acquiring higher education by their children.

(viii) For Promotion of use of Jute Geo-textiles (JGT) in Civil Engineering applications like slope stabilization management, rural roads construction, river bank protection, etc. support is provided under the Scheme for Geotextiles in North Eastern Region.

(ix) NJB implements Retail Outlet scheme which supports supply chain and bulk supply of JDPs for selective and mass consumption. The scheme aims at providing assistance to jute entrepreneurs for opening of outlets of jute lifestyle jute products in Metro Cities, State capitals, District HQs and Tourist spots. The support is limited to 50% of initial decoration, monthly running expenditure for a period of three years

(x) National Jute Board had taken several research initiatives during the Jute Technology Mission [2007-13]. Techno Economic Feasibility Study was conducted to enable the commercialization of successful R&D efforts. These studies were conducted by commercial agencies of repute and the completed reports are being passed on to the interested entrepreneurs.

(xi) Jute Raw Material Bank (JRMB) scheme -The scheme has been designed to make jute raw material available to the small and tiny artisans / entrepreneurs locally at mill gate price, suiting to the present requirement and sustainability of the decentralized JDP sector in the country.

(d) & (e): The details of exports of jute products such as jute bags, wall hangings, and decorative items to top 20 countries in 2015-16; and Jute exports from the country during the last three years, are at ‘Annexure-I’ .