Food ministry to seek jute bag exemption for sugar packaging
NEW DELHI : The department of food and public distribution will seek an exemption for sugar from mandatory 20% jute bag packaging starting next month. Sugar millers and factory owners wrote to the textile secretary last month, saying though jute bags were good for packaging grains, they were not ideal for sugar. Jute bags, being porous do not protect sugar from moisture, a senior government official aware of the matter said.The relaxation will also be sought on the grounds of the costs involved and operational challenges.
“Sugar will catch moisture if the textile ministry does not reconsider its decision. Production of sugar is already down. On top of it, if it gets damaged due to packaging in jute bags, production will fall further.
Hence, we are going to request the textile ministry to reconsider its mandatory 20% jute bag packaging decision. But until it comes in writing, we will have to comply with it from the next season," the official said. There are price implications too.
At present, sugar prices are ₹43.61 a kg in the retail market, a rise of 2.3% on-month and on-year. Wholesale prices went up 1.8% from a month ago and 3.4% on-year to ₹4,035 per quintal, according to the price monitoring division of the consumer affairs department. “We met the Jute commissioner the other day, and he said it is difficult to make changes in the decision, but you can try," the official added.
Sugar is prone to moisture, and a portion of the annual production is stored for more than a year. It sometimes passes through two rainy seasons and moisture gained during storage is not good for sugar. Sugar production in 2022-23 sugar year (October-September) is expected to fall to 32.7-32.8 million tonnes as against an initial estimate of
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