Experts analyse potential of Vidarbha cotton industry

27 Feb '13

2 min read

Several stalwarts from the Indian textile and apparel industry discussed the prospects and potential of cotton industry in Vidarbha – the east region of Maharashtra – at the two-day Advantage Vidarbha (AV) meet, the biggest-ever effort by the government of the western Indian state to market the backward Vidarbha region to the industry.

Around 70 percent of Vidarbha’s annual cotton output of 6.2 million tons is either shipped out to other states, as the region lacks adequate number of processing units capacitated to process this cotton, which is taking a toll on the region’s cotton economy, according to speakers.

Post-harvesting, cotton needs to pass through various stages like ginning, weaving, spinning and dyeing before its actual transformation into fabric.

Principal Secretary of Textiles, Maharashtra government, Sunil Porwal, said the Vidarbha region contributes around one-fourth of India’s total cotton output worth around Rs. 13 billion. This raw produce is then sent to different parts of the country for processing it into fabric.

Once transformed into fabric its value increases to Rs. 1300 billion, which is a big leap in the value chain.

Raymonds’ chairman Gautam Singhania said their Yavatmal-based denim production plant is forced to source around 30 percent of its yarn requirement from other states as it is not readily available in local market.

Power charges comprise around 10-20 percent of their total costs, while the units in the state continue to face problems in securing power supply from open access energy market, Prashant Mohta, managing director of GIMATEX said.

Kotak Commodities’ chairman Suresh Kotak said cotton produced in Vidarbha first reaches Gujarat where based on grading it is branded as ‘Shankar’ variety, which has high sale value and higher acceptance in domestic as well as international market than other brands.

Gujarat has high-level processing facilities that increase the value of cotton, which is presently not possible in Vidarbha, he explained.

According to Dilip Jiwrajka, managing director of Alok Industries, incentives are a key to sustain viability of the textile mills. Giving example, he said their company also operates in Burkina Faso, a land-locked African country, but still they are doing well there as the Burkina Faso Government extends several incentives to boost the textile industry.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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