Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Textile Minister, has called for a third-party investigation into the abrupt increase in cotton yarn costs, which has an impact on the prospects of Indian textiles across the value chain.
Solution
At a virtual meeting on Wednesday organised by the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council to present the Texprocil Export Awards, the Minister stated that cotton yarn price was an issue that the Ministry of Textiles and the Textile Commissioner’s office were working to resolve in collaboration with the industry.
Cartelisation
The Minister had instructed the Textile Commissioner Office to look for evidence of cartelization that harmed the industry’s overall interests.
Texprocil, in collaboration with the Office of the Textile Commissioner, shall conduct a third-party statistical investigation on the rapid increase in cotton yarn costs. She stated that the Ministry will provide assistance for the research wherever it is required.
The Minister also stated that the Cotton Corporation of India has created over 450 cotton procurement centres this year, and that MSP activities during the current fiscal year totaled Rs. 26,720 crore, helping over 19 lakh farmers.
Product verticals
In technical textiles, there were new product verticals where cotton might play a key role, particularly in medical textiles. According to the Minister, the industry and the government may collaborate to add value via cotton under the Technical Textile Mission of India.
