Union commerce and textile minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday took stock of several issues pertaining to the jute sector, including current demand-supply situation and the steadily increasing import of jute from Nepal and Bangladesh affecting domestic industry.

Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) is in favour of imposition of countervailing duties on imports with imposition of anti dumping duty having little effect because of subsidy enhancements for exporters from these countries.

The minister was in the city to inaugurate Patsan Bhawan, a unified complex housing offices of Jute Commissioner, Jute Corporation of India and National Jute Board.

At the inauguration of the building, the minister emphasised on the need for diversification in jute products, create more scope of demand for the golden fibre and expand export of jute goods from India.

Following a stakeholders meeting later in the day,industry sources said that the minister has proposed the creation of a jute advisory group of industry stakeholders to identify areas of improvement and recommend necessary changes.

Calling for uniform quality of testing at the farm level to ensure remunerative prices for farmers, the minister expressed the need to develop automatic testing mechanisms without human interference.

According to sources, the minister has also encouraged the jute industry to explore the feasibility of utilising the government’s research and development fund for technical textiles.

With a substantial number of small jute mills on the rise in Bengal, the minister has also proposed the opening up of IJMA membership for small jute mills.