The Government has announced the formation of Cotton Council of India under the Chairmanship of Suresh Bhai Kotak, a renowned veteran cotton man.
The council will have representation from Ministry of Textiles (MoT), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Commerce and Industry, Cotton Corporation of India and Cotton Research Institute.
The announcement came during a meeting with stakeholders from cotton value chain, held under the Chairmanship of Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal.
The Minister of State for Textiles Darshna Jardosh, Secretary Textiles and Secretary Agriculture were also present in the meeting. The meeting was called to resolve cotton and yarn price issue.
The council will discuss, deliberate and prepare a robust action plan for bringing out a tangible improvement in this field. The first meeting of proposed council has been scheduled on 28 May 2022.
In a statement, MoT informed that in the meeting, a cross-section of views and suggestions were deliberated for softening cotton and yarn prices on urgent basis, to address unprecedented price rise witnessed in the current season.
Piyush Goyal gave a clear and loud message to all stakeholders to resolve cotton and yarn price issue, in the spirit of collaboration rather than competition and super profiteering, without pushing the Government to intervene as it may have long-term impact on cotton value chain.
Pointing out that Government is committed to protect the interests of cotton farmers, spinners and weavers, the Minister assured to actively consider the demand of the spinning sector for exemption from import duty on those import contracts in which bills of lading is issued up to 30 September 2022 to overcome current cotton shortage and logistic issues.
The Minister appealed to the spinning and trading community to ensure hassle-free supply of cotton and yarn to the domestic industry and added that only surplus cotton and yarn should be diverted for exports.
He cautioned that export should not be at the cost of domestic industry, which is the largest generator of employment in the country.
It was pointed out that cotton productivity is the biggest challenge in the country, resulting thereby in less cotton production despite largest area under cotton cultivation.
The Minister also emphasised upon the need for making available better quality of seeds to improve the productivity of cotton farmers.
Source : https://in.apparelresources.com/