New Delhi Seen for long as an unattractive and coarse raw material fit primarily for gunny bags, jute is enjoying its days under the sun like never before, more so after the Delhi government imposed a ban on plastic carry bags.
With poly-bags out as competition in a potentially vast market, jute manufacturers have now renewed their efforts to market jute bags: stressing on the fashionable factor for consumers, and the affordability angle for shopkeepers.
“After the ban on plastic, the available options are paper, cotton and jute,” D Mukherjee, market promotion officer for Jute Manufactures Development Council (JMDC), said. “While paper bags are not durable, cotton bags are very expensive; so jute is the only workable alternative. We have on display bags starting from as low as Rs 3-4.
Story reported in ExpressIndia by Sukalp Sharma, 31st March 2009.