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The Textile Magazine
MAY 2012
Govt. bid for collection of accurate
data on cotton output, supply
cotton scene
The Government has framed a
draft legislation that aims to set up
a system to collect accurate data on
cotton production and stock avail-
ability with various stakeholders of
the industry.
In view of the commercial im-
portance of the natural fibre crop,
a basic and important issue that
has become a matter of concern
among policy makers, researchers
and industry was the reliability of
data on cotton production and its
stock in the possession of various
stakeholders of cotton distribution
system, a senior Textiles Ministry
official said.
It was important to have ac-
curate data that provides the basis
for research on various issues and
policy making and near to the ac-
tual figures. “We are in the process
of finalising the draft Cotton Trade
(Development and Regulation) Bill,
2012. The proposed law will help
in drawing realistic cotton balance-
sheet. Also, a realistic cotton
economy scenario will discourage
the distress sale by farmers,” he
said.
The Textiles Ministry had also
invited the stakeholders’ comments
in this regard. “The true and correct
data on production and consump-
tion of raw cotton in the natural
fibre distribution chain will help
the farmers to avail of facilities for
borrowing from banks against their
produce under the Warehousing
(Development & Regulation) Act,
2007,” the official added.
The new law has been drafted
against the backdrop of differences
in cotton output estimates made by
the Textiles Ministry and the Agri-
culture Ministry for this crop year.
In March, the ban on cotton ex-
ports imposed on fears of domestic
shortages despite record output in
the absence of accurate data lasted
only a week. The estimated cotton
production during the current sea-
son 2011-12 is 347 lakh bales (170
kg each) against an estimated 250
lakh bales of cotton. Exports have
reached 115 lakh bales, leaving a
closing stock of 25 lakh bales.
Besides, the Government asked
the Cotton Corporation of India to
build up reserves of 25 lakh bales
of cotton this marketing year to
ensure smooth supply of the raw
material to the cash-starved textile
mills.
The Textile Ministry had drafted
the new legislation as at present
there is no statutory framework for
collecting the statistical data on
cotton from ginning and pressing
factories as well as cotton yarn out-
put from the textile mills. “Due to
lack of realistic data, it has become
difficult for the Cotton Advisory
Board (CAB) to assess production
and consumption of raw cotton,”
the official said.
Trade and commerce in cotton
and its value-added products need-