Indian govt procures 2.07mn quintals of cotton at MSP

06 Dec '12

2 min read

For the ongoing cotton marketing year that commenced from October, the Indian Government has purchased 2.074 million quintals (1 quintal = 100 kg) of cotton at minimum support price (MSP) by November 28, Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar informed Lok Sabha in a written reply.

In view of the declining prices of cotton in domestic market, the Government announced that it would buy nine million bales (1 bale – 170 kg) of cotton at MSP during the 2012-13 marketing season, to safeguard the interest of the growers, The Economic Times said quoting PTI.

The procurement is being done through state-owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed).

The two agencies have been designated to intervene in the market and procure cotton as and when needed to ensure that the market prices do not slip below the MSP, Mr. Anwar informed.

Sluggishly moving international trade has led to a rise in global cotton inventories and is also a cause for global cotton prices remaining low this year. This is putting pressure on cotton prices in India, in spite of that the domestic consumption is on a rise.

MSP of long staple cotton for the current season has been fixed at Rs. 3,900 per quintal, while that of medium staple cotton is Rs. 3,600 per quintal.

The Cotton Advisory Board has estimated India’s total cotton production at 33.4 million bales for the current season, of which, around 26 million bales would be consumed domestically, leaving an exportable surplus of about seven million bales.

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