Textile minister Pabitra Margherita, speaking at the parliament, said that Gujarat has been India’s No. 1 state in cotton production for the last two years. The Union Minister of State said that out of 336.6 and 325.22 lakh bales produced by India from years 2022-23 and 2023-24, 30 per cent was produced by Gujarat at 87.95 and 90.57 lakh bales for these two respective years.
The MP was replying to a question initiated by Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani. Nathwani, who is an MP from Andhra Pradesh, had asked the government to provide information on the total production and exports of cotton in India & steps taken by the government to promote research work in the field of cotton production.
In reply to the query, the textile minister said that to boost the export of textile products, the central government is implementing a scheme for the rebate of state and central taxes and levies (RoSCTL) on exports of apparel/garments and made-ups.
Additionally, the textile products, not covered under the RoSCTL are covered under Remissions of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) along with other products, elaborated the minister.
India has also signed 14 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and 6 Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with various trading partners, which would ease access to global markets in the integrated cotton textile value chain.
A premium Indian cotton brand by the name Kasturi Cotton Bharat, available in 29 mm and 30 mm long-staple varieties, is developed through a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Textiles and the industry under a public-private partnership.
To date, 464 units have joined the initiative. As of October 30, 2024, 47,600 bales were certified by the Kasturi Cotton label.
The ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, has released 333 cotton varieties, including 191 non-Bt and 142 Bt cotton varieties, over the past decade.
Other initiatives taken by the ICAR-CICR are the Voluntary Carbon Market Project, genome editing, transgenic research, HDPS technology scaling, breeding for resistance, artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.
India’s total cotton textile exports in the last two years stood at US$ 11,085 million and $12,258 million.
Gujarat’s total cotton textile exports stood at $2,835 million and $3,615 million during the same periods.
Nathwani, a Gujarat native himself, is also the Director of Corporate Affairs at Reliance Industries Limited.
Follow us
