9 hours ago
CCI buys 100 lakh bales cotton at minimum support price
The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has purchased close to 100 lakh bales at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) from farmers in the current cotton season and has sold 35 lakh bales in the market.
Lalit Kumar Gupta, the CCI chairman and Managing Director, told The Hindu on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) that the CCI opened more than 500 centres in the cotton-growing areas since the beginning of the season in October 2024.
'The demand for cotton is not much from the textile mills, and if the current market situation persists, the CCI may purchase more cotton at MSP next season,' he said.
Official sources said the outgo for CCI this year for the MSP operations was ₹37,500 crores. With 8 % increase in the MSP for the next cotton season (October 2025-September 2026), the outgo will be higher if the CCI buys more cotton from the farmers at MSP.
Meanwhile, cotton imports saw a 133 % jump last month compared with last May and a 131 % increase in value in April-May 2025 compared with the same period last year.
Nishant Asher, secretary of the Indian Cotton Federation, said International cotton is almost 8 % cheaper than Indian cotton. With the 11% import duty, Indian spinners are getting cotton from other countries at 1%-2% lower prices. However, they are unable to compete in the international market. The import duty is a major deterrent for the competitiveness of the Indian textile industry, he said.
