MARKET & ECONOMY​

March next year, in order to substitute for Bt cotton. This year, CICR began trial cultivation of 15 indigenous varieties of cotton seeds, the results of which will be out by December. In April this year, US-based Monsanto, which makes genetically-modified Bt seeds, had threatened to quit the Indian market. Then, CICR had informed the Government that it is coming up with Indian varieties which can substitute for Bt cotton.

The Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC) is looking at reopening six closed textile mills with Chinese help. The six textile mills owning a total of 153 acres of land are: Ahmed Bawani Textile Mills in Demra, Quaderia Textile Mills in Gazipur, Dinajpur Textiles Mills in Dinajpur, Dost Textiles Mills in Feni, Tangail Cotton Mills in Tangail and RR Textile Mills in Chittagong.

COTTON USA, which promotes U.S. cotton, offered sourcing support to the fashion industry supply chain at the Texworld in Paris from September 12-15, 2016, in Hall 2 F137. COTTON USA provided visitors with comprehensive background information on responsibly-produced U.S. cotton, global cotton market developments, the findings of current market and consumer studies, and its ongoing licensing, marketing and sourcing programmes.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has proposed to drastically slash power tariff to spinning mills in the State to uplift the textile industry. The spinning mills provide employment to four lakh people in the State, but several mills are on the verge of closure due to heavy losses.

A cabinet sub-committee headed by Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu has formally moved a proposal to offer power at Rs 2 per unit to the spinning mills.

The Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani has asked the Textile Commissioner to get a detailed feedback on issues faced by powerloom sector, including yarn price fluctuation, anti-dumping duty on PTA and yarn and dumping of undervalued Chinese fabric and submit a report.