India’s textile industry has demanded that the state-owned Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) should sell cotton at international rates. The demand comes in wake of the industry being forced to pay higher than international prices due to a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the government in September last year.
The demand was presented in a report submitted to the textile ministry by the industry body Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). The report said that the government agencies should primarily be selling to the textile mills and sale to traders and exporters should be restricted to only when stocks reaches 2-3 months of physical inventory.
The industry also wants the government to ensure that representatives from the textile industry are present on boards of the government agencies like the CCI and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India as it would ensure greater communication between the industry and government.
Following the demand of the industry, textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran has said that while paying the MSP was an obligation for the government, which needed to fulfill to ensure welfare of the farming community, the government would try to supply cotton to the textile industry at prices not higher than what would be prevalent in international markets.