6 May 2010 – Jute in the form of Jute Geotextiles (JGT) are used in road construction. JGT is not being used for modern lifestyle products. The specific areas of its application are:
- Road construction, especially medium and low volume roads
- River bank erosion control
- Stabilisation of flood and road embankments
- Hill slope erosion control
- Soft soil consolidation
- Watershed management
This information was given by the Minister of State for Textiles, Smt. Panabaaka Lakshmi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today to a question by Shri Baijayant Jay Panda.
The Minister further stated that an international project on ‘Development and Application of Potentially Important Jute Geotextiles in Rural Road Construction and Erosion Control’ has recently been launched. The project was mooted by the International Jute Study Group (IJSG), Bangladesh with Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) providing 51.60% of the project cost (US $3,962,826) as grant. The project will cover India and Bangladesh and several European countries.
The objectives of the project would be (i) Development of potentially important Jute Geotextiles (JGT) suitable for use in the two identified end-uses viz. soil erosion control and rural road construction and (ii) Standardisation of potentially important JGT, evolving design methodologies based on simulation studies & field applications. The purpose of the project is to expand domestic and international market, especially in European countries, of JGT in the two specific areas of application through international accreditation, the Minister added.
The Minister further stated that the Government has been making every effort to ensure that India’s T&C exports are increased in the global market. These initiatives include exploiting potential markets where the share of India’s T&C exports could be enhanced. The LAC countries viz. Brazil and Argentina have been identified among such focused countries because of their immense potential.
SOURCE: India Press Bureau
