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KOLKATA, Feb. 25

INDIA may withdraw all duties on imports of Bangladesh raw jute and in the process create a borderless jute goods sector comprising industries and farmers of both the countries.

This was the concluding mood of the International Jute Symposium 2003. While the Union Textile Secretary, Mr S.B Mohapatra, felt that there was a strong need to create such a borderless entity, representatives of the Bangladesh industry urged the Indian Government to abolish the import duties on jute.

In response, Mr Mohapatra said raw jute was one of the 120 items, which are currently being considered for duty free imports from Bangladesh. The matter has been discussed at the recent Indo-Bangla talks and a decision will be taken soon.

It may be noted that India and Bangladesh together produce 90 per cent of the world's total jute goods. While Bangladesh holds an edge with its superior fibre quality, India retains its leadership in the global jute market with technological and marketing skills.

Approximately, 10 lakh bales (1 bales = 180 kg) of raw jute are imported into India from Bangladesh. The basic import duty is 2.5 per cent and there is a four per cent special additional duty.

According to Mr Mohapatra, the industry in these two countries must interact among themselves on a regular basis so that both develop at a rapid pace.

Mr Kanshiram Rana, Union Textile Minister, while responding to a question during his presidential address at the valedictory session, assured the Indian jute industry that the Union Government might consider a long-term policy specifically for this sector, if needed.

Regarding the proposed Rs 458-crore Jute Technology Mission, he said the expert group has already submitted the report. Subsequently, similar reports were also prepared by related Union Ministries.

``All these reports have been submitted to the Planning Commission and we already had two rounds of discussion. We hope that the Commission would clear the proposal soon. Thereafter we would take the matter to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs,'' Mr Rana told reporters at a press conference.

At present, jute industry enjoys zero excise duty. The Minister assured that there was hardly any possibility of the re-introduction of excise duty as his Ministry had not made such a recommendation to the Union Finance Ministry.

He, however, said that the cess collected from the industry would continue. ``In fact, the total amount collected from cess is being paid back to the industry by the way of external marketing assistance and others,'' he added.

Regarding the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme for the textile sector, the Minister said till date, 1,740 applications with a total project cost of Rs 14,000 crore had been received.

The Ministry had approved 800 applications and the disbursals were to the tune of Rs 4,200 crore. Jute industry's share in it was a minuscule Rs 10 crore.

The Minister said the Union Government would not backtrack on the on-going dilution of the mandatory packaging orders in foodgrains and sugar, despite an earnest request from the West Bengal Government.

Regarding the ailing public sector, the National Jute Manufacturers' Corporation Ltd (NJMC), Mr Rana said its units were successfully being used by private organisations for conversion jobs. NJMC is currently losing more than Rs 100 crore every year.

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