Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal announces the formation of the Cotton Council of India. The announcement came into the light of setting a council that will discuss, deliberate and prepare a robust action plan for bringing out a tangible improvement in this field. The formation of the council is announced under the Chairmanship of Suresh Bhai Kotak, a renowned veteran cotton man, with representation from the Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Commerce and Industry, Cotton Corporation of India and Cotton Research Institute.
The first meeting of the proposed council has been scheduled for 28th May 2022.
Purpose of forming a council:
In the current season, the unprecedented price of cotton has been seen as a cause of worry. In the meeting, a cross-section of views and suggestions were deliberated for softening cotton yard prices on an urgent basis to address the above-mentioned issue. It was pointed out that cotton productivity is the biggest challenge in the country, resulting thereby less cotton production despite the largest area under cotton cultivation. Union Minister Piyush Goyal emphasized the need for availing better quality seeds to improve the productivity of cotton farmers.
Addressing the meeting, the Minister gave a clear and loud message to all stakeholders to resolve the 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 a long term impact on the cotton value chain.
Holding Hands of Cotton Farmers
Cotton is one of the most important commercial crops in India. The government is focusing all their efforts on hand holding farmers who are the weakest part of the cotton value chain, besides extending all possible support to stakeholders in the backward and forward integration through out-of-the-box thinking at this critical juncture.
Pointing out that the government is committed to protecting 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 are issued up to 30th September 2022 to overcome the current cotton shortage and logistic issues.
