The Indian Road Congress has accepted jute as geo-textile for using in building of roads which could be a major boost to the Bengal's jute industry that employs lakhs of workers.
"The Indian Road Congress (IRC) has identified a few types of jute based geo-textiles and notification in this regard is expected soon," Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Textiles, Subrata Gupta said here on Monday on the sidelines of Textiles India 2017 roadshow.
"Now, with the IRC acceptance it will be very easy to push the material in road construction," he said. For the past seven years the industry worked hard in pursuing different states to use jute as geo-textile in construction of roads.
Gupta said it has been found that the longevity of roads constructed by using geo-jute is more and it also helps to reduce the numbers of layers that are used during construction of roads thereby reducing the cost of construction. "For quite some time, geo-jute is being used in construction of roads but as the Indian Road Congress has principally agreed to use it during road construction it will give a major boost to the industry."
Currently, three jute varieties are being used as geo-textile in construction of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana (PMGSY).
As of now, 65 roads have been constructed using jute under PMGSY of which 453 km are in Bengal. Gupta said the Centre buys jute sacks worth Rs 5,000 crore annually to give a boost to the industry.