Partition of the country in 1947 affected the jute industry as the jute growing areas were in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and jute mills were in India. India has to import raw jute from Bangladesh to run the jute mills. There has been gradual decline in the jute industry due to the following reasons :
(i) Decline in demand for jute products.
(ii) Old and outdated machinery.
(iii) High cost of production and stiff international competition from Bangladesh and Brazil.
(iv) Emergence of synthetic substitutes.
(v) Non-availability of labour.