Centre sets up Cotton Council of India to resolve issues in Cotton Sector

The central government has set up the Cotton Council of India to resolve issues related to the pricing of cotton and yarn and bring tangible improvement in the sector. The council will be chaired by industry veteran Suresh Bhai Kotak. 

The Cotton Council of India is scheduled to meet for the first time on May 28, 2022. During its first meeting, the council is expected to discuss, deliberate and prepare a robust action plan to bring a tangible improvement in the sector. 

The decision to set up the council was taken during a meeting with the stakeholders from the cotton value chain, chaired by Textiles and Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

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Key Agenda

• The council will deliberate on actions to be taken for softening of cotton and yarn prices on an urgent basis.
• It will also address the unprecedented rise in cotton prices that was witnessed in the current season.
• It will also work to solve the issue of cotton productivity, which is the biggest challenge in the country, as despite having the largest area under cotton cultivation, there is less cotton production.
• There is also increased emphasis on the need for making available better quality of seeds to improve the productivity of cotton farmers.

Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal while addressing the meeting of the stakeholders gave a clear message to resolve cotton and yarn price issue, in the spirit of collaboration rather than competition and super profiteering, as it may have a long-term impact on cotton value chain.

He also emphasised on the need of supporting the cotton farmers who is the weakest part of the cotton value chain and support stakeholders engaged in the backward and forward integration through out-of-the-box thinking at this critical juncture.

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