Jute Corporation of India will set up 20 to 30 outlets all over India, including one in Visakhapatnam, shortly to facilitate purchase of jute products by the government and public sector entities.
Disclosing this at a press conference here, JCI Chairman and Managing Director K.V.R. Murthy said the outlets would be managed by franchisees. He had already made a proposal to the Ministry of Textiles to insist on purchase of environment-friendly jute products compulsory so as to boost sales, said Mr. Murthy.
He said the outlet in Visakhapatnam would help PSUs like Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited and government entities like Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation and Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority in placing bulk orders. As there was big potential to market jute products, JCI was also in talks with Patangajali Group to explore a tie-up. He said with diversification of jute products there was good scope to tap the market for packaging, gifting and yoga mattresses.
JCI is the nodal agency for conducting minimum support price (MSP) operations for raw jute. The Government of India compensates for losses occurred, if any, in the form of subsidy, whenever the sale price is below the cost incurred for the procurement and supply of raw jute by jute mills.
Stating that they had one of the regional offices at Vizianagaram and a procurement centre at Parvathipuram, he said the corporation, which is so far engaging cooperative societies, would also explore involving private firms for procurement. Bumper crop last year yielded 120 lakh bales. This year it is expected to be around 86 lakh bales. With carry forward from last year’s stocks, this year will be difficult for the farmers.