Indian Cotton Should Become a Global Price Influencer: CCI Chief
India should aim to become a price influencer in the global cotton market by improving productivity, quality, transparency and price discovery, said Lalit Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), in Coimbatore on Friday.
Inaugurating a biannual cotton conference organised jointly by the Indian Cotton Federation and the Indian Cotton Association, Gupta said India had the scale to become a globally competitive cotton producer, but its output currently does not meet domestic consumption needs.
Under the Mission on Cotton, about five lakh hectares will be targeted in the first year to raise productivity. High-density planting trials across 25,000 hectares have recorded yields of 15 quintals of seed cotton per acre, he said.
Gupta stressed that Indian cotton must meet global requirements for consistent and contamination-free fibre. The industry must work collectively to reduce contamination, he said.
He also called for greater transparency and reliable data for better price discovery. “We need actual data, and this information should be integrated with the entire system,” he said.
The CCI procured 105 lakh bales during the current cotton season and sold 94 lakh bales. It currently holds around 17 lakh bales.
K.V. Srinivasan, former president of the International Textile Manufacturers’ Federation, said India needed a technology-led boost in cotton yields to compete with Brazil, the US and China. With India accounting for about 38% of the world’s cotton-growing area, higher yields could help the country emerge as the world’s leading cotton producer, he said.
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