Giriraj Singh reviews cotton MSP preparations for Kharif 2025-26
By yash chouhan 2025-09-03 14:28:33
Union Minister Shri Giriraj Singh reviews preparations for Cotton MSP operations for Kharif Season 2025-26
Criteria for procurement centre operations notified for the first time: Record 550 centres proposed in major cotton producing states. Nationwide self-registration by farmers and slot booking through ‘Kapas-Kisan’ mobile app to commence this season
Union Textiles Minister Shri Giriraj Singh chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi on 2nd September 2025. The meeting was attended by Smt. Neelam Shami Rao, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Padmini Singla, Joint Secretary (Fibres), Shri Lalit Kumar Gupta, CMD, Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and other senior officers of the Ministry of Textiles and Cotton Corporation of India. The objective of the meeting was to assess the preparedness for Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations for cotton during the ensuing Kharif marketing season 2025-26 commencing from 1st October 2025.
Shri Giriraj Singh reiterated the Government’s commitment to the welfare of cotton farmers and assured that all cotton procurement falling under MSP guidelines will be done without any disruptions and with focus on timely, transparent and farmer-centric service delivery. He expressed his commitment to safeguard the interests of cotton farmers by ensuring remunerative prices for their produce and accelerate the transition to a digitally empowered system.
The Union Minister said that in line with the Government’s Digital India vision, all processes from procurement of cotton by Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to sale of stocks under MSP operations are now completely faceless and paperless thereby strengthening the trust and confidence of farmers and other stakeholders in MSP operations.
For the first time, uniform criteria have been laid down for setting up of procurement centres, taking into account key parameters such as area of cotton cultivation, availability of functional APMC yards and availability of at least one stock processing factory at the cotton procurement centre. As a result, a record 550 procurement centres have been set up in major cotton producing states. Procurement of cotton under MSP will commence from October 1 in northern states, October 15 in central states and October 21 in southern states, 2025.
From this season, Aadhaar-based self-registration of cotton farmers and 7-day slot booking facility will be made available across the country through the newly launched 'Kapas-Kisan' mobile app. This digital platform aims to streamline procurement operations, ensure transparency and realise Aadhaar-based payments directly into farmers' bank accounts through the National Automated Clearing House (NACH). The SMS-based payment information service introduced last year will also continue.
To enhance support at the ground level, Local Monitoring Committees (LMCs) will be constituted by the States in each APMC Mandi for immediate grievance redressal. Additionally, dedicated state-level helplines and a central CCI helpline will remain active throughout the procurement period. Deployment of adequate manpower, logistic support and other infrastructure will be ensured before the start of the cotton season.
