With respect to the effect on the textile business we see the following as the major issues in cotton market –

Contamination: Cotton is vulnerable to contamination at the harvesting, marketing and ginning stages if proper care is not taken. Both fibrous and non fibrous contamination is of concern.

Quality: Due to average cotton quality, a globally competitive cotton sector has been difficult to develop. With growing demand for high quality products, the cotton sector and larger textile enterprises have already initiated imports of quality cotton.

Problem of admixtures: Mixing of different varieties of cotton (admixing) is another area of concern. This leads to inconsistencies in strength, length, micronaire, color and reflectance in cotton. Admixture also makes the grading and testing of cotton difficult.

Absence of uniform standards: Another problem is absence of uniform quality standards across the country. While there are various agencies involved into quality testing and grading of cotton across, uniform standards have not been in use.

Improvisation in growing and picking of cotton are the keys to improvement in this area. NSL Group is working extensively in this area. We are developing linkages with input suppliers of seeds and pesticide, credit providers and technology providers ( agriculture universities, ICAR institutes, private research division of leading private agric-input agencies ) so as to provide the best farming practices to the cotton farmer.

We are also working on developing mechanized picking system suited for Indian condition which will make the picking operation much more fast and efficient.

NSL Group is pioneering the concept of branded cotton. With the in house expertise in cotton contract farming, quality assurance and sourcing, our group company NCC will be able to offer branded cotton with guaranteed quality levels. NSL being capable of executing the above is uniquely positioned to tap the potential of cotton market.

We are already pursuing that avenue. Our Group’s flagship company Nuzeevidu Seeds Private Limited (NSPL) has state of the art bio technology laboratory involved in creating better variety of seeds by genetic transformation of crops, especially cotton. With NSPL’s strength in R&D and Group’s experience in cotton contract farming, color cotton ranges will be the next step for the Group.

Color cotton ranges will be good for both the industry and the environment. It will reduce the dyes and chemical consumption and reduce the effluents out of process house. We believe that the growing concern about the environment will be a major factor driving the industry towards colored cotton ranges; and our group is best placed to tap this trend.

We will also process organic cotton in our mills. We foresee a huge increase in demand of organic cotton. Keeping that in mind we have identified one of our units for processing organic cotton. Approval process for the same is underway.

Legal obligations apart, we strongly feel that there is a moral obligation on part of the industry participants that no child is hired for work. All recruitments in our garment factories whether at trainee or at employee level are only done after thoroughly ascertaining the applicant’s age. We have taken concrete steps to ensure that all our factories are fully complying with fair trade practices.

We believe that wages should be market driven. Our wages and salaries levels are best or at par with the industry level. But apart from wages, we take special care of the welfare of our employees. RMG manufacturing is highly manpower driven industry and it employs a lot of women workers. Creating a conducive work environment at all of our manufacturing plants is one of our key focus areas.