Prime Minister convenes meeting to bail out textile industry
10 Dec '08
1 min read
Dr Manmohan Singh
The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh is convening a meeting on Wednesday to discuss on steps to bail out the textile industry due to a sharp increase in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of cotton. This was revealed at the sidelines of an international conference by the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar and hoped that a solution would be worked out to the vexed issue.
It may recalled that recently, at the beginning of the new cotton season, the Government of India had announced a steep hike in MSP of cotton by as much as 25-40 percent due to which prices of cotton in the open market have increased sharply and are ruling at prices higher than those prevailing in global markets.
The textile industry had strongly opposed the hike in MSP by saying that domestic cotton prices will sky rocket at a time when international prices are displaying declining trends. Experts had also warned of a fall in exports and also prompt the sector to import cheaper cotton from abroad.