The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has procured around 1.04 crore bales, top officials of the corporation said. PK Aggarwal, CMD of CCI, said this is a global record of procurement by any single entity till date. The total procurement by CCI is valued at Rs 28,000 crore, he said. The previous best performance by CCI was 90 lakh bales in 2008.
Of the total crop of 360 lakh bales estimated by the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB), around 336 lakh bales have already arrived in the market, Aggarwal said. Daily arrivals are to the tune of 30,000- 40,000 bales. This may reduce once the monsoon sets in as farmers may bring out the cotton only after the rains, he explained.
The cotton procured so far has been purchased from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana and Punjab. The season in Tamil Nadu has begun and will continue till September 30. The support price of cotton (medium staple) has been increased by Rs 260 per quintal to Rs 5,515 for 2020-21. The support price of long staple has been increased to Rs 5,825 per quintal from Rs 5,550 per quintal last year.
The Cotton Association of India has pegged 2019-20 crop at 354.5 lakh bales, compared with 312 lakh bales last year. CCI has submitted a proposal to the Centre for signing a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladesh government for export of 15-20 lakh bales in the next harvest season. Some 3,000 bales have already been sent to Bangladesh, he said.
