Centre Government Strengthens Cotton Supply Chain through MSP & E-Auctions
New Delhi: The government facilitates the availability of cotton to the domestic textile and spinning industries through the release of stocks procured by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) under Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations, said Minister of State for Textiles, Pabitra Margherita in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
These stocks are sold through a transparent online e-auction system to enable competitive price discovery. MSP for cotton is declared annually to safeguard farmers’ interests when market prices fall below the support level and to ensure sustained cotton production.
To enhance cotton productivity, quality and farmer incomes, several policy and programmatic interventions have been undertaken, the Minister said.
A five-year Mission for Cotton Productivity was announced in the Union Budget 2025–26, with the Department of Agricultural Research & Education as the nodal department and the Ministry of Textiles as a partner.
The mission focuses on strengthening cotton production through research and extension, including the development of climate-resilient, pest-resistant and high-yielding varieties, including Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton, using advanced breeding and biotechnology tools.
In addition, a Special Project on Cotton under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) has been implemented since 2023–24 through ICAR-CICR, Nagpur, in convergence with the Ministry of Textiles.
To strengthen MSP operations, CCI has expanded its procurement network from 508 centres in 2024–25 to 571 centres in 2025–26, covering 150 districts across 11 cotton-growing States. During the 2024–25 cotton season, CCI procured 100.16 lakh bales valued at Rs 37,437 crore. In 2025–26 (as on 5 February 2026), 90.97 lakh bales valued at Rs 36,355 crore have been procured.
