Kolkata, May 20 (PTI) The Office of the Jute Commissioner on Tuesday issued a Raw Jute Stock Control Order, capping the permissible holding limits for various stakeholders and mandating daily inventory disclosures.

The directive is seen as a response to the Centre’s push to rein in prices of essential commodities following ‘Operation Sindoor’, an Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) official said.

Issued by Jute Commissioner Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, the order limits balers with in-house baling presses to 1,500 quintals, traders and dealers to 300 quintals, and unregistered entities to a mere 500 kg. For jute mills, the cap is linked to two months’ consumption based on current production levels.

The order does not apply to stocks procured by the Jute Corporation of India Ltd (JCI).

All entities in the raw jute supply chain – balers, traders, stockists, mills, and agencies – have been directed to submit daily reports detailing their opening and closing stock, purchases, sales and dispatches.

Non-compliance may attract penal action, according to the directive.

The order gives entities 10 days to offload excess stock and submit documentary evidence to Office of the Jute Commissioner by May 31, 2025, failing which fresh purchases must cease until stocks fall below the prescribed limits.

“The timing is crucial, with just 40 days left in the 2024-25 jute year,” the official said, noting that this is the Centre’s most direct intervention in recent years to ensure price transparency and deter hoarding activities.

The move follows concerns that the recent sharp rise in raw jute prices to Rs 6,500–Rs 7,000 per quintal – well above the MSP of Rs 5,335 – has been driven not by farmers but by hoarders and traders, amid tightening supplies and thin market availability, he said.

Production in 2024-25 declined to around 73 lakh bales, about 20 per cent lower than last year, as farmers reduced acreage following two years of distress. A large carryover stock of 23–30 lakh bales further depressed the market in the early part of the season, although JCI procurement of over 5 lakh quintals provided partial support.

Industry players, however, are divided on the order’s potential impact.

“It sends a strong message, but 40 days may be too little to change market fundamentals,” said a mill procurement head.

Others fear overregulation could disrupt supply, as sowing for the next season begins. PTI BSM RBT

Stock holding limits imposed with mandatory daily inventory reporting; excess holders must offload or face purchase suspension. The order establishes stock holding limits for different classes of supply chain participants, requires daily reports of opening and closing stock, purchases, sales and dispatches, excludes stocks procured by the Jute Corporation, and mandates that excess stock be offloaded with documentary proof within ten days, failing which fresh purchases must cease until prescribed limits are met.