Mumbai: The demand for cloth and jute bags continues to be low despite the ban on plastic, with manufacturers of these items stating that not many retailers have approached them for supplies. The manufacturers further said that while some shops from the list provided by the BMC were calling them, they were not placing orders citing unaffordable prices.
Chetan Mehta from Shreeji Enterprises, Char-kop, Kandivali, said, “There has been no increase in the demand for jute and cotton bags after the plastic ban. The ban has just come into force, so we are expecting the demand to increase in the coming days.”
Another manufacturer, Siddhesh Dalvi from Supreme Industries Lim-ited, Chakala, Andheri east, too, claimed that there had been no additional calls from new shopkeepers since the ban was enforced.
Some shopkeepers have been reluctant to place orders for jute and cotton bags because of prohibitive prices. A Tardeo manufacturer of these items said, “We are manufacturing jute bags and ARECA disposable products, so we usually deal in wholesale.
Hence, the products are available at discounted prices. Still, a few shopkeepers are telling us that the items are expensive for them. We have got calls from a few new shops after the BMC uploaded the list of manufacturers on its official website.”
Meanwhile, the BMC has collected fines to the tune of '660,000 during the first three days of the plastic ban. Penalties have been slapped on around 132 premises which include food outlets like Burger King, McDonald’s and Starbucks among others.
