The government of India has imposed a punitive duty on exports of raw cotton and cotton waste, which comes in to retrospective effect from April 9, 2010 for a period of six months.
Exports of raw cotton have been slapped an export duty of Rs 2,500 per ton and shipments of cotton waste attract a levy of three percent of the free-on-board value.
In a related development, cotton yarn exports too, will now need to be compulsorily registered with Textile Commissioners Office.
This decision was taken a meeting chaired by Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukerjee, on recommendation from the Textiles Ministry and pressure from the industry.
Raw cotton and cotton yarn prices have risen by around 35 percent in the last few months, which had given rise to concerns among the downstream consumers.
Around 7.95 million bales of raw cotton have been registered with the Office of the Textile Commissioner for export, since October 2009, of which nearly 5.45 million bales have already been shipped.