Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA) has accused middle-men and traders of creating havoc by jacking up the price of cotton during the cotton arrival season. TEA says, 11 per cent total import duty on cotton has been the reason for the cartelization of players to increase the domestic cotton prices and make an abnormal profit.

As per Raja M Shanmugham, cotton price hike heavily impacts garment- exporting units and leads to losses, including employment. Moreover, it also affects the sustainability of the MSME garment units. He adds, necessary steps have to be taken to break the cartelization and also see the possibility of imposing ban on cotton exports. The industry has always supported the cotton-producing farmers getting better price for their produce as that would encourage them to continue to raise the crop and take the right scientific techniques to increase productivity