Indian cotton body reacts on textile sector plea to Govt

Dhiren Sheth, President of CAI, said, “It is the opinion of CAI that Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) should not be supporting the private textile industry alone. CCI needs to maximize its return and therefore, it should be selling cotton to any entity – be it a mill, a trader, an exporter or a foreign buyer whoever offers the highest price for its cotton on a given day.”

CAI has stated that the increase in the cotton prices in the past six months has been normal in India. Dhiren Sheth commented that the cotton price rise in India in the past six months has been about 10-12% as against the international price rise of about 20%. The rise in the Indian cotton price is attributed to the good demand of yarns as well as increase in yarn prices, according to Sheth.

CAI has urged the CCI to sell its cotton to the highest bidder. The recommendation from the CAI in favor of cotton traders counteracts the request from the spinning industry seeking government’s support for the stock release from government owned CCI only to end-users.

Seshadri Ramkumar