Swedish furniture major Ikea is planning to increase sourcing of cotton from India for its textile requirements as it gears up to start retail operations here by next year. The company, which is working with around four lakh farmers in India through local partners under its better cotton initiative (BCI) programme, is sourcing almost one-third of its global requirements from India.

According to Ikea Cotton Leader Pramod Singh, till now, Ikea does not retail in India. Given the retail plan which we have till 2025, obviously sourcing of sustainable textiles from India would increase dramatically even for the local market.

Meanwhile, Ikea is planning 25 stores in India by 2025, and has sourced goods worth 315 million Euros from India, in which textiles contributed around 70 per cent. While Singh did not share details of cotton sourcing, in 2015, the company had sourced around 35 per cent of its cotton from India followed by Pakistan at 21 per cent.

As a response to how much cotton sourcing from India can increase going forward, Singh said, if you add the retail expansion in India, the percentage is going to increase and will not remain the same. Indian cotton is used by not only Indian suppliers, but Ikea’s suppliers in Bangladesh, he said, adding that ‘India is the source of one - third cotton of Ikea.