According to official figures, New Delhi’s cotton import bill increased 200% to reach $1 billion in the 10 months leading up to January, driven by record-high cotton prices amid a global scarcity last year. Although a downturn in global demand has recently caused cotton prices to decline, analysts are concerned about domestic production. According to the Economic Report 2023, stagnant cotton production is particularly concerning given that textile prices have been rising steadily for the last three years, and that apparel and footwear were among the main drivers of headline inflation in FY23. “Lower yields in India are mostly to blame for the predicted 300,000 bale decline in global production to 115.4 million bales. According to the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, consumption is anticipated to decline because to decreasing use in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. According to a service report.
According to official figures, India’s import cost for cotton increased by 200%, from $450.40 million in the same period last fiscal year to $1.34 billion between April 2022 and January 2023.
The trade data further showed that the imports had picked up quickly between July and December. India had imported closely up to 17.50 lakh bales in the second half of 2022. The duty has been eased on cotton exports between 14th April and 30th September 2022.
The Cotton Association of India (CAI) said that “Popularizing high densiy planting, farm mechanization and giving a thrust to research –oriented agronomy are some other important way forwards to increase our cotton productivity at least to the world cotton average productivity mark”
