As the cotton season (October 2015 to September 2016) comes to an end and cotton prices have shot up to nearly Rs 50,000 a candy, textile industry associations from different parts of the country met the Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi.
The associations sought announcement of cotton fibre security policy by the Union Government. Cotton is the main raw material for the textile industry and cotton prices, which were Rs 33,000 a candy, increased to Rs 55,000 a candy in July this year. The spinning mills incur Rs 20 to Rs 25 a kg loss and this has been the situation for the last three months. Many mills have hence cut down production. Downstream industries, including powerlooms, handlooms, and apparel, are also hit because of the increase in cotton prices.
The textile industry is facing crisis for the last eight years now and volatility in cotton prices is one of the reasons for this, the associations pointed out. Spinning mills have not option but to buy cotton at high costs as banks extend only three-month credit limit facility.