Kolkata, Nov 29: The Jute Commissioner has rejected the suggestion of the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) for revising the fair price of raw jute to Rs 7,200 per quintal and instead sought a price capping recommendation for finished jute sacking bags.
The jute mills lobby body had submitted their suggestion to the Jute Commissioner, the regulator, to revise the fair price of raw jute to Rs 7,200 from Rs 6,500, after an emergency meeting pursuant to a high level meeting in the state secretariat in presence of the West Bengal Chief Secretary.
“As decided in the meeting convened by GoWB you are again requested to forward your proposal on maximum price cap (in absolute terms in Rupees per 100 bags) for consideration. You may appreciate that fixation of maximum price is a regulatory function of the Jute Commissioner and once a maximum cap is imposed by publishing a gazette notification, the same is binding and cannot contain any variable element in the cap price itself,” the Jute Commissioner said in a letter to IJMA.
“It was unambiguously decided in the meeting that IJMA will forward the maximum price of jute bags which is proposed to be fixed in lieu of fixation of price of raw jute which is presently in force for consideration of the appropriate authority. This was accepted by the representatives of IJMA who were present there,” the regulator said in its letter.
The Indian Jute Mills Association has refuted the claim of Jute Commissioner that mills representative had agreed to suggest only price cap of the finished jute sacking bag at the emergency meeting at the state secretariat last Friday.
IJMA chairman Raghav Gupta told PTI that “IJMA had not agreed and sought time to discuss the matter with the larger committee members and get back in a day’s time which we did and sent our outcome as a proposal agreed among the larger members of the association.”
The IJMA had suggested revising the fair raw jute price to Rs 7,200 per quintal from Rs 6,500 per quintal taking market realities into account. IJMA had submitted their suggestion a day after a high level meeting at the Nabanna, the state secretariat in presence of state Chief Secretary.
Responding to the proposal, Jute Commissioner said, “It is apparent from the above that IJMA in it’s reply instead of forwarding the maximum cap price, forwarded a complex proposal linking it again with price of raw jute and several other variables which was discussed but was not agreed to in the meeting itself and a consensus was reached that IJMA will forward it’s proposal on maximum price of jute bags on the next day itself.
The West Bengal government sought mills suggestions as it cannot allow unabated price rise of foodgrain jute sacking bags and the lobby body presented a method that allowed market driven price of raw jute with a ceiling as the Rs 6,500 price cap has faltered creating a shortage in supply to mills.
The West Bengal government had also agreed to carry out massive dehoarding drive to unlock raw jute supply for the mills. (PTI)
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