§ Mr. DAYasked the Secretary of State for India whether he can state the amount of opium alkaloids manufactured at the Ghazipur opium factory for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date, showing the amount of revenue derived from the sales; and whether this factory is at present running on a profitable commercial basis?
§ Mr. BENN130 lbs. of alkaloids were manufactured at Ghazipur in the 12 637W months ended 30th September, 1929. Sales of alkaloids amounted to Rs. 17,314. There was a profit on the Ghazipur factory as a whole, but a small loss on the production of alkaloids.
§ Mr. FREEMANasked the Secretary of State for India whether he will state the consumption of opium, per 10,000 population, in the different provinces of India and similar figures for some of the largest cities during the last known year; and the amount required for medicinal purposes, as laid down by the League of Nations, per 10,000 population?
§ Mr. BENNThe information asked for in the first and third parts of the question is as follows:
Consumption of opium by provinces 1927–28 (in seers per 10,000, calculated on census figure of 1921). Madras Presidency … 8.2 Bombay Presidency Proper … 14.0 Sind … 16.0 Bengal Presidency … 8.5 Burma … 21.0 Bihar and Orissa … 7.2 United Provinces … 5.0 Punjab … 19.0 Central Provinces and Berar … 18.0 Assam … 38.0 North-West Frontier Province … 8.8 Delhi … 35.0 Ajmer-Merwara … 68.0 Coorg … 1.7 Baluchistan … 13.0 The League standard, which was suggested for the medical and scientific requirements of countries possessing a highly organised medical system and has little applicability to the conditions of India, was equivalent to about 6 seers per 10,000.
With regard to the second part of the question, I regret that figures for individual cities are not readily available.