#THE COIR INDUSTRY ACT, 1953 
______ 

##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTION 
______ 

SECTIONS 

##CHAPTER I 

###PRELIMANARY 

1. Short title, extent and commencement. 
2. Declaration as to expediency of control by the Union. 
3. Definitions. 

##CHAPTER II 

###THE COIR BOARD 

4. Establishment and constitution of the Coir Board. 
5. Vacancies, etc., not to invalidate acts and proceedings. 
6. Salary and allowances of Chairman. 
7. Vice-Chairman. 
8. Executive and other Committees. 
9. Secretary and staff. 
10. Functions of the Board. 
11. Dissolution of the Board. 

##CHAPTER III 

###CONTROL OVER THE EXPORT OF COIR FIBRE COIR YARD AND PRODUCTS 

12. Control of export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products. 

##CHAPTER IV 

###FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT 

13. Imposition of a duty of customs on export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products. 
14. Payment of proceeds of cess to the Board. 
14A. Grant by the Central Government to the Board. 
15. Constitution of Fund. 
16. Borrowing powers of Board. 
17. Accounts and audit. 

##CHAPTER V 

###CONTROL BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 

18. General control over acts and proceedings of the Board. 
19. Report and returns. 

##CHPTER VI 

###MISCELLANOUS 

20. Penalties. 
21. Offences by companies. 
22. Previous sanction of Central Government for prosecution. 
23. Protection of action taken in good faith. 
24. Power to delegate. 
25. Suspension of operation of Act. 
26. Power of Central Government to make rules. 
27. Power of Board to make by-laws. 



#THE COIR INDUSTRY ACT, 1953 

##ACT NO. 45 OF 1953 

[23rd December, 1953.] 

An Act to provide for the establishment of a Board for the development of the Coir Industry 
  and for that purpose to levy a customs duty on coir fiber, coir yarn and coir products exported 
  from India and for matters connected therewith. 

  BE it enacted by Parliament as follows:— 

##CHAPTER I 

###PRELIMANARY 

1. **Short title, extent and commencement.**—(1) This Act may be called the Coir Industry 
Act, 1953. 

(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir[^1]. 

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the 
Official Gazette, appoint. 

2. **Declaration as to expediency of control by the Union.**—It is hereby declared that it is expedient 
in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the coir industry, 

3. **Definitions.**—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

  (a) “Board” means the Coir Board constituted under section 4; 
  (b) “cess” means the customs duty imposed by section 13; 
  (c) “coir” or “coir fiber” means the fiber extracted from the husk of the coconut; 
  (d)  “coir  products”  means  mats  and  mattings,  rugs  and  carpets,  ropes  and  other  articles 
manufactured wholly or partly from coir or coir yarn; 
  (e) “coir yarn” means yarn obtained by the spinning of coir; 
  (f) “export”  with  its  grammatical  variations  and  cognate  expressions  means  to  take  out  of  the 
territories to which this Act extends by land, sea or air to any place outside India other than a country 
or territory notified in this behalf by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette; 
  (g) “Fund” means the Coir Fund referred to in section 15; 
  (h) “husks” means coconut husks, both raw and retied; 
  (i) “member” means a member of the Board; 
  (j) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act. 

##CHAPTER II 

###THE COIR BOARD 

4. **Establishment and constitution of the Coir Board.**—(1) With effect from such date  as  the 
Central  Government  may,  by  notification  in  the  Official  Gazette,  specify  in  this  behalf,  there  shall  be 
established for the purposes of this Act a Board to be called the Coir Board. 

(2) The  Board  shall  be  a  body  corporate  by  the  name  aforesaid,  having  perpetual  succession  and  a 
common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to 
contract, and shall, by the said name, sue and be sued. 

(3) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and such number of other members not exceeding forty as 
the Central Government may think expedient, to be appointed by that Government by notification in the 
Official Gazette from among persons who are in its opinion capable of representing— 



[^1]. Vide notification No. S.O. 3912(E), dated 30th October, 2019, this Act is made applicable to the Union territory of Jammu and 
Kashmir and the Union territory of Ladakh. 



  (a) growers of coconuts and producers of husks and coir yarn; 

  (b) persons  engaged  in  the  production  of  husks,  coir  and  yarn  and  in  the  manufacture  of  coir 
products; 

  (c) manufacturers of coir products; 

  (d) dealers in coir, coir yarn and coir products, including both exporters and internal traders; 

  (e) parliament; 

  (f) the Governments of the principal coconut growing States; 

  (g) such other persons or class of persons who, in the opinion of the Central Government, ought 
to be represented on the Board. 

(4) The  number  of  persons  to  be  appointed  as  members  from  each  of  the  categories  specified  in 
sub-section (3), the term of office, of the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions by, 
and the manner of filling vacancies among, the members of the Board shall be such as may be prescribed. 

(5) Any officer of the Central Government when deputed by that Government in this behalf shall have 
the right to attend meetings of the Board and take part in the proceedings thereof but shall not be entitled 
to vote. 

5. **Vacancies,  etc.,  not  to  invalidate  acts  and  proceedings.**—No act or proceeding taken by the 
Board under this Act shall be questioned on the ground merely of— 

  (a) the existence of any vacancy in the Constitution of, the Board; or 

  (b) any omission, defect or irregularity not affecting the merits of the case. 

6. **Salary and allowances of Chairman.**—The  Chairman  shall  be  entitled  to  such  salary  and 
allowances and shall be subject to such conditions of service in respect of leave, pension, provident fund 
and other matters as may from time to time be fixed by the Central Government. 

7. **Vice-Chairman.**—The  Board  shall  elect  from  among  its  members  a  Vice-Chairman,  who  shall 
exercise such of the powers and discharge such of the duties of the Chairman as may be prescribed or as 
may be delegated to him by the Chairman. 

8. **Executive and other Committees.**—(1) There shall be an Executive Committee of the Board for 
the purpose of exercising such of the powers and performing such of the duties of the Board as may be 
prescribed or as the Board may delegate to it. 

(2) The Executive Committee shall consist of— 

  (i) the Chairman, 

  (ii) the Vice-Chairman, and 

  (iii) five other members elected by the members of the Board, from among themselves of whom 
not  more  than  two  shall  be  Government  officials  and  one  shall  be  from  among  the  members 
representing persons engaged in the production of husks, coir and coir yarn and in the manufacture of 
coir products. 

(3) Subject  to  such  control  and  restrictions  as  may  be  prescribed,  the  Board  may  constitute  other 
standing committees or ad hoc committes for exercising any power or discharging any duty of the Board 
or for enquiring into or reporting and advising on any matter which the Board may refer to them. 

(4) A Standing Committee shall consist exclusively of members of the Board. 

(5) An ad hoc Committee may include persons who are not members of the Board, but their number 
shall be less than one-half of its strength. 

9. **Secretary and staff.**—(1) The  Central  Government  shall,  after  consulting  the  Board  appoint  a 
Secretary to the Board who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed or as 
may be delegated to him by the Board or the Chairman. 

(2) Subject to such control and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Board may appoint such officers 
and  employees  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  efficient  performance  of  its  functions  and  pay  them  such 
salaries and allowances as it may determine from time to time. 

(3) The Chairman, Secretary and other officers and employees of the Board shall not undertake any 
work unconnected with their duties under this Act except with the permission of the Central Government. 

10. **Functions of the Board.**—(1) It shall be the duty of the Board to promote by such measures as it 
thinks fit the development under the control of the Central Government of the coir industry. 

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the measures referred to 
therein may relate to— 

  (a) promoting  exports  of  coir  yarn  and  coir  products,  and  carrying  on  propaganda  for  that 
purpose; 

  (b) regulating under the supervision of the Central Government the production of husks, coir yarn 
and  coir  products  by  registering  coir  spindles  and  looms  for  manufacturing  coir  products  as  also 
manufacturers  of  coir  products,  licensing  exporters  of  coir,  coir  yarn  and  coir  products  and  taking 
such other appropriate steps as may be prescribed; 

  (c) undertaking,  assisting  or  encouraging  scientific  technological  and  economic  research  and 
maintaining and assisting in the maintenance of one or more research institutes; 

  (d) collecting statistics from manufacturers of, and dealers in, coir products and from such other 
persons as may be prescribed, on any matter relating to the coir industry; the publication of statistics 
so collected or portions thereof or extracts therefrom; 

  (e) fixing grade standards and arranging when necessary for inspection of coir fibre, coir yarn and 
coir products; 

  (f) improving the marketing of coconut husk, coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products in India and 
elsewhere and preventing unfair competition; 

  (ff) setting up or assisting in the setting up of factories for the production of coir products with 
the aid of power; 

  (g) promoting  co-operative  organisation  among  producers  of  husk,  coir  fibre  and  coir  yarn and 
manufacturers of coir products; 

  (h) ensuring  remunerative  returns  to  producers  of  husks,  coir  fibre  and  coir  yarn  and 
manufacturers of coir products; 

  (i) licensing of retting places and warehouses and otherwise regulating the stocking and sale of 
coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products both for the internal market and for exports; 

  (j) advising on all matters relating to the development of the coir industry; 

  (k) such other matters as may be prescribed. 

(3) The Board shall perform its functions under this section in accordance with and subject to such 
rules as may be made by the Central Government. 

11. **Dissolution of the Board.**—(1)  The  Central  Government  may,  if  the  Board  does  any  act 
exceeding  the  powers  conferred  upon  it  or  acts  in  a  manner  contrary  to  the  rules  or  prejudicial  to  the 
interests of the industry or acts contrary  to  the directions  given  by  the  Central  Government, call 
upon the Board to show cause why the Board should not be dissolved and if no explanation is offered or 
if the Central Government is dissatisfied with the explanation given it may suspend or dissolve the Board 
from such date and for such period as may be specified in the notification. 

(2) When the Board is dissolved under the provisions of sub-section (1)— 

  (a) all members shall, from the date of dissolution, vacate their offices as such members; 

  (b) all  powers and  duties of  the  Board  shall,  during  the  period  of  dissolution, be  exercised  and 
performed by such person or persons as the Central Government may appoint in this behalf; 

  (c) all funds and other property vested in the Board shall, during the period of dissolution, vest in 
the Central Government; and 

  (d) as  soon  as  the  period  of  dissolution  expires,  the  Board  shall  be  reconstituted  in  accordance 
with the provisions of this Act. 

##CHAPTER III 

###CONTROL OVER THE EXPORT OF COIR FIBRE COIR YARD AND PRODUCTS 

12. **Control of export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products.**—No coir fibre, coir yarn or coir 
products  shall  be  exported  otherwise  than  under  a  licence  issued  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  Board  in  the 
prescribed manner, and the provisions of the Sea Customs Act, 1878 (VIII of 19887), shall have effect as 
if the provisions made by this section had been made by notification issued under Section 19 of that Act: 

  Provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to any coir product dispatched out of the territories 
to which this Act extends by post or carried in a passenger’s luggage for his personal use: 

  Provided further that the Central Government may exempt from the operation of this section either 
absolutely or subject to specified conditions, the export of any coir fibre, coir yarn or coir product to any 
foreign settlement bounded by India. 

##CHAPTER IV 

###FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT 

13. **Imposition  of  a  duty of  customs on  export of coir fibre,  coir  yarn  and coir  products.**—(1) 
With effect from such date as may be specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official 
Gazette, there shall be levied and collected as a cess for the purposes of this Act a duty of customs on all 
coir  fibre,  coir  yarn  and  coir  products  which  are  exported 1[at  such  rate  not  exceeding  two  rupees  per 
quintal] as the Central Government may, by the same or a like notification from time to time, fix. 

(2) The  cess  levied  under  sub-section  (1)  shall  be  in  addition  to  any  other  duty  leviable  under  the 
Indian  Tariff  Act,  1934  (XXXII  of  1934),  or  any  other  law  for  the  time  being  in  force  and  shall  be 
collected by such agencies and in such manner as may be prescribed. 

14. **Payment of proceeds of cess to the Board.**—The proceeds of the cess levied under sub-section 
(1) of section 13 shall first be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India and the Central Government may 
thereafter from time to time pay to the Board from and out of such proceeds such sums of money as it 
may think fit after deducting the expenses of collection. 

14A. **Grant by the Central Government to the Board.**—The Central Government may, after due 
appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the Board by way of grants, such sums of 
money as the Central Government may consider necessary. 

15. **Constitution of Fund.**—(1) There shall be formed by the Board a Fund to be called the Coir 
Fund and there shall be credited thereto— 

  (a) the proceeds of the cess made over to the Board by the Central Government; 

  (b) any other fee that may be levied and collected under this Act or the rules made thereunder; 

  (c) any sum of money that may be paid by way of grants under section 14A. 

(2) The Fund shall be applied towards meeting the expenses of the Board and the cost of the measures 
referred to in section 10. 

16. **Borrowing powers of Board.**—Subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, the Board 
shall have power to borrow on the security of the Fund or any other asset for any purposes for which the 
Fund may be applied. 

17. **Accounts and audit.**—(1) The Board shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records 
and prepare an annual statement of accounts, including the profit and loss account and the balance-sheet 
in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Comptroller and 
Auditor-General of India. 

(2) The accounts of the Board shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India at 
such intervals as may be prescribed by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit 
shall be payable by the Board to the Comptroller and Auditor-General. 

(3)  The  Comptroller  and  Auditor-General  of  India  and  any  person  appointed  by  him  in  connection 
with  the  audit  of  the  accounts  of  the  Board  shall  have  the  same  rights  and  privileges  and  authority  in 
connection  with  such  audit  as  the  Comptroller  and  Auditor-General  has  in  connection  with  audit  of 
Government accounts, and in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, 
connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the Board. 

(4) The accounts  of  the  Board as certified by  the  Comptroller and  Auditor-General  of  India  or  any 
other  person  appointed  by  him  in  this  behalf  together  with  the  audit  report  thereon  shall  be  forwarded 
annually  to  the  Central  Government  and  that  Government  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  laid  before  each 
House of Parliament. 

##CHAPTER V 

###CONTROL BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 

18. **General control over acts and proceedings of the Board.**—(1) All acts and proceedings of the 
Board shall be subject to the control of the Central Government which may cancel, suspend or modify as 
it thinks fit any action taken by the Board. 

(2) The Board shall carry out such directions as may be issued to it by the Central Government for the 
efficient administration of this Act. 

(3)  The  records  of  the  Board  shall  be  open  to  inspection  at  all  reasonable  times  by  any  officer 
authorised in this behalf by the Central Government. 

19. **Report and returns.**—[^2][(1) The Board shall submit to the Central Government and such other 
authority,  as  may  be  prescribed,  an  annual  report  on  its  activities  and  the  working  of  this  Act  for  the 
preceding year; and a copy of every such report shall, as soon as may be after it is received by the Central 
Government, be laid before each House of Parliament.] 

(2) The  Board  shall  prepare  and  submit  such  other  returns  relating  to  the  coir  industry  as  may  be 
required by that Government from time to time. 

##CHAPTER VI 

###MISCELLANOUS 

20. **Penalties.**—(1)  If  any  person  contravenes  the  provisions  of  section  12,  he  shall  be  punishable 
with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees. 

(2) Any person who attempts to contravene or abets the contravention of the provisions of section 12 
shall be deemed to have contravened those provisions. 

21. **Offences by companies.**—(1)  If  the  person  committing  an  offence  under  section  12  is  a 
company,  every  person  who  at  the  time  the  contravention  was  committed  was  incharge  of,  and  was 
responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company shall 
be  deemed  to  be  guilty  of  the  contravention  and  shall  be  liable  to  be  proceeded  against  and  punished 
accordingly: 

  Provided  that  nothing  contained  in  this  sub-section  shall  render  any  such  person  liable  to  any 
punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all 
due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. 

(2) Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  sub-section  (1)  where  an  offence  under  section  12  has 
been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or 



[^2]. Subs. by 41 of 1994, s. 2, for sub-section (1) (w.e.f. 8-7-1994). 



connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other 
officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty 
of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. 

*Explanation.*—For the purposes of this section— 

  (a) “company” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; 
and 

  (b) “director” in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm. 

22. **Previous sanction of Central Government for prosecution.**—No prosecution for any offence 
punishable  under  this  Act  shall  be  instituted  except  with  the  previous  approval  of  the  Central 
Government. 

23. **Protection of action taken in good faith.**—No suit prosecution or other legal proceeding shall 
lie against any person for anything in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules 
made thereunder. 

24. **Power to delegate.**—The  Central  Government  may,  by  order  notified  in  the  Official  Gazette, 
direct that any power exercisable by it under this Act may also be exercised in such cases and subject to 
such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order by such officer or authority as may be specified 
therein. 

25. **Suspension of operation of Act.**—(1) If the Central Government is satisfied that circumstances 
have arisen rendering it necessary that certain of the restrictions imposed by this Act should cease to be 
imposed or if it considers it necessary or expedient so to do in the public interest the Central Government 
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, suspend or relax to a specified extent either indefinitely or for 
such period as may be specified in the notification the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act. 

(2) Where  the  operation  of  any  provisions  of  this  Act  has  under  sub-section  (1) been suspended  or 
relaxed  indefinitely,  such  suspension  or  relaxation  may  at  any  time  while  this  Act  remains  in  force  be 
removed by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette. 

26. **Power of Central Government to make rules.**—(1) The Central Government may, subject to 
the condition of previous publication, make rules or carrying out the purposes of this Act. 

(2) In  particular,  and  without  prejudice  to  the  generality  of  the  foregoing  power,  such  rules  may 
provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— 

  (a) the constitution of the Board, the number of persons to be appointed as members from each of 
the categories specified in sub-section (3) of section 4, the term of office and the other conditions of 
service of, the procedure to be followed by, and the manner of filling vacancies among, the members 
of the Board; 

  (b) the circumstances in which, and the authority by which, members may be removed; 

  (c) the holding of a minimum number of meetings every year; 

  (d) the pay and allowances and other conditions of service of the secretary; 

  (e) the  maintenance  of  records  of  all  business  transacted  at  meetings  of  the  Board  and  the 
submission of copies of such records to the Central Government; 

  (f) the  preparation  of  budget  estimate  of  the  receipts  and  expenditure  of  the  Board  and  the 
authority by which such estimates should be sanctioned; 

  (g) the  conditions  subject  to  which,  and  the  mode  in  which,  contracts  may  be  made  by  or  on 
behalf of the Board; 

  (h) the  powers  of  the  Board  and  the  Executive  Committee  and  the  Chairman,  in  regard  to  the 
incurring of expenditure; and the re-appropriation of estimated savings in any budget heard to another 
such head; 

  (i) the conditions subject to which the Board may borrow; 

  (j) the form and the manner in which accounts should be kept by the Board; 

  (k) the  registration  of  coir  spindles  and  looms  for  the  manufacture  of  coir  products  as  also  the 
registration  of  manufacturers  of  coir  products  and  the  conditions  for  such  registration;  the  grant  or 
issue of licences under this Act; the fees to be levied in respect of such registration and licences; and 
the suspension and cancellation of such registration and licences; 

  (l) the form of applications for registration and licences under this Act and the fee, if any, to be 
paid in respect of any such applications; 

  (m) the collection of any information or statistics in respect of the coir industry; 

  (n) any other matter which is to be or may be prescribed. 

(3) Every rule made by the Central Government under this section shall be laid as soon as may be 
after  it is  made,  before  each  House  of  Parliament  while it  is in  session for  a  total period  of  thirty  days 
which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if before the expiry 
of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree 
in making any  modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule 
shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, 
that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously 
done under that rule. 

27. **Power of Board to make by-laws.**—(1) The Board may make by-laws consistent with this Act 
and the rules made thereunder, to provide for,— 

  (a) the  dates,  times  and  places  of  its  meetings  and  of  the  meetings  of  the  Executive  and  other 
Committees and the quorum for such meetings, and the procedure thereat; 

  (b) the  delegation  of  powers  and  duties  to  the  Executive  or  any  other  Committee,  or  to  its 
Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary or any other of its officers; 

  (c) the travelling allowances of members and of members of Committees; 

  (d) the appointment, promotion and dismissal of its officers and other employees other than the 
Secretary and the creation and abolition of their posts; 

  (e) the conditions of service of its officers and other employees other than the Secretary including 
their  pay,  leave,  leave  allowances,  pensions,  gratuities,  compassionate  allowances  and  travelling 
allowances and the establishment and maintenance of a provident fund for them; 

  (f) the maintenance of its accounts; 

  (g) the persons by whom, and the manner in which payments, deposits and investments may be 
made on its behalf; 

  (h) the custody of moneys required for its current expenditure and the investment of moneys not 
so required; 

  (i) the  preparation  of  statements  showing  the  sums  allotted  to  departments  of  the  Central  and 
State Governments and other institutions. 

(2) No by-law shall take effect until it has been confirmed by the Central Government and published 
in the Official Gazette; and the Central Government in confirming a by-law may make any change therein 
which appears to it to be necessary. 

(3) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, cancel any by-law which it 
has confirmed and thereupon the by-law shall cease to have effect. 

[^1][(4) Every by-law made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each 
House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in 
one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately 
following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification 
in the by-law or both Houses agree that the by-law should not be made, the by-law shall thereafter have 
effect  only  in  such  modified  form  or  be  of  no  effect,  as  the  case  may  be;  so,  however,  that  any  such 
modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under 
that by-law.] 



[^1]. Ins. by Act 4 of 1986, s. 2 and the Schedule, (w.e.f. 15-5-1986).