Now, Nolen Gur tubes to have shelf lives upto 180 days

Kolkata: The amber-coloured sticky sweet liquid Nalen Gur or date palm jaggery will now be available throughout the year thanks to the toothpaste-style tube of the savoury that was introduced by the Mamata Banerjee government two years back. The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) that has developed the packaging of the tube has recently given approval to the state government that the shelf life of the jaggery tube can be raised to 180 days.

When the tube was introduced for the first time two years back, the shelf life of the product was 120 days as per IIP. However, after the customer feedback, the West Bengal Khadi Village & Industries Board (WBKVIB) that comes under the state MSME department realized that the shelf life of the tube could be raised to 180 days. "We had sent the sample to the IIP laboratory in Mumbai and after examination, they have informed us that the shelf life can be raised to 180 days," a senior official of the Khadi Board said.

Bidhan Das, deputy director of IIP confirmed that the quality of the jaggery in the tubes is of such high standard that in the packaged form, it can have a shelf life of 180 days. "We have urged the state government to follow good manufacturing process," Das said.

The state government is introducing automation to do away with the manual process of production of jaggery. "We are coming up with a common production centre at Majdia in Nadia. Work has already started and it is expected to be complete by December this year. The total investment will entail around Rs 2.5 crore," the WBKVIB official said.

Nolen Gur tubes are available in 100 gm and 150 gm at all Biswa Bangla as well as Khadi stores in Kolkata. Some months back, the Board had tied up with the noted sweet shop chain Bancharam for selling these tubes. The price is Rs 50 for 100 gm and Rs 70 for 150 gm.

There is a society in Majdia, Nadia that manufactures excellent quality jaggery. However, in the manual process, there is always the risk factor regarding hygiene and also the time factor. These people from society will be roped for the automated production and there will be more employment as the production process will be expedited which will

naturally increase production. The demand is huge particularly among foreigners," the official added.