Lok Sabha Question No. 3515 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-17
Subject: Spiralling Cost of Cotton
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Shri S Venkatesan

## SPIRALLING COST OF COTTON

## 3515. SHRI S VENKATESAN:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री be pleased to state :

(a)  whether  the  closure  of  textile  mills,  loss  of  livelihood,  lack  of  opportunities  and  spiralling  raw material prices which had crippled the industry and export markets and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  the  steps  are  taken  to  contain  the  spiralling  cost  of  cotton  and  other  raw  materials  which  made  it nearly  impossible  for  mills  to  keep  up  production  while  Industry  associations  are  demanding  policy support from the Government; and

(c) the measures are taken to ensure access to finance as banks were hesitant citing difficulties faced by the industry?

उत्तर

ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज्  य मंत्री ( श्री पबित्र मार्घेररटा

## )

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA)

(a) to (c): The Government of India is implementing various schemes/initiatives to boost production,  employment  and  exports  in  the  textile  sector  while  continuously  monitoring  export performance. The major schemes/initiatives include PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme; Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme focusing on Man-Made Fibre (MMF) Fabric, MMF Apparel and Technical; National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) focusing on Research  Innovation  &  Development,  Promotion  and  Market  Development;  SAMARTH-Scheme  for Capacity  Building  in  Textile  Sector  with  the  objective  providing  demand  driven,  placement  oriented, skilling program; Silk Samagra-2 for comprehensive development of sericulture value chain.; National Handicraft  Development  Program  etc.  Further,  the  Government  of  India  is  implementing  National Handloom Development Programme and Raw Material Supply Scheme to promote handloom sector and welfare of handloom weavers across the country.

In  order  to  address  the  challenges  faced  by  the  Cotton  ecosystem,  the  Government  has  taken following initiatives to enhance India's competitiveness in the global cotton market:

- i. Constitution of a Textile Advisory Group (TAG) as an advisory body to deliberate, recommend and facilitate inter-ministerial coordination to address issues pertaining to the entire cotton value chain  including  enhancing  yield  of  cotton,  crop  protection  measures,  branding  of  cotton,  farm mechanization & development of cotton economy by promoting advanced technologies through holistic planning from farm to fashion.
- ii. Brand name 'Kasturi Cotton Bharat' for Indian cotton was launched to encourage the Trade and Industry  to  work  on  the  principle  of  self-regulation  by  owning  complete  responsibility  of Traceability, Certification and Branding of Kasturi Cotton Bharat.
- iii. Basic Customs Duty has been removed on Extra Long Staple Fibre of Raw Cotton effective from 20.02.2024.
- iv. Government is declaring Minimum Support Price (MSP) of cotton every year. This mechanism not  only  ensures  that  farmers  receive  a  fair  remunerative  price  for  their  produce  in  the  event market  prices  of  cotton  falls  below  MSP  rates  but  also  facilitates  the  availability  of  cotton  at competitive prices through daily e-auctions by Cotton Corporation of India (CCI).