Sugar mills for the 2024-25 season have been instructed to comply with the packaging of sugar in jute packaging material as per the provisions of the Jute Packaging Material (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act, 1987. Failure to do so will be taken seriously, and strict action will be taken against non-compliant sugar mills.
According to the directive, all sugar manufacturers are required to comply with the directions regarding the mandatory jute packaging of 20% of the total sugar production, as notified by the Ministry of Textiles under the Jute Packaging Material (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act, 1987.
In a communication to the sugar mills, the Under Secretary to the Government of India, Sunil Kumar Swarnkar, stated, “All the sugar mills are hereby directed to place their orders for procurement of jute bags for packing 20% of sugar produced in sugar season 2024-25 and ensure the compliance of Ministry of Textile’s order dated 26-12-2023 and 01-10-2024 for mandatory packaging of 20% of the total production of sugar in the jute packaging material in letter and spirit. Further, all sugar mills are also directed to furnish the information of jute packaging in monthly P-2 from October-2024 onwards.”
“Non-compliance of the directions issued by Directorate for Jute packaging of 20% of sugar produced during current sugar season 2024-25, will be viewed seriously and strict action will be taken against non-compliant sugar mills under the provisions of Sugar(Control) Order, 1966 read with Section 3 of Essential Commodities Act, 1955,” Swarnkar further added.
In the past, millers have urged the government to fully exempt sugar from the compulsory packaging in jute bags under the Jute Packaging Materials Act of 1987. Sugar mills claim that this could lead to increased costs and operational challenges.
