In a meeting with the newly constituted Textile Advisory Group, Piyush Goyal, Minister for Textiles and Commerce & Industry directed concerned authorities to finalize the decision to extend import duty waiver on cotton till December 31.Je also addressed issues relating to augmenting present supplies of cotton and strengthening productivity. He called for importing from destinations where stocks are available.
Suresh Kotak, Chairman, Textile Advisory Group emphasized on the need to ensure seed availability for sowing especially new early maturing varieties and revamp the seed system to enhance productivity of Indian cotton from present stagnation. As per estimates of Committee on Cotton Production and Consumption, current carry over/closing stock is 41.27 lakh bales, which is about 12.66 per cent stock to use ratio and equivalent to stock for 45 days consumption. The cotton-based textile industry is facing a shortage of cotton leading to rise in prices from Rs 44,500 per candy in February 2021 to Rs 90,000 per candy in March 2022.
The steep increase in cotton prices is severely impacting the potential growth of the cotton textile value chain. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had notified the exemption from Customs duty and Agriculture Infrastructure development Cess for import of cotton.
