Telangana textile mills seek govt help to overcome cotton crisis

The large numbers of spinning and textile mills in Telangana are in trouble due to the unfair trade practice adopted by the CCI, which is not offering sufficient cotton to them. This has resulted in huge price increase in the commodity, making the total textile industry unviable.

Telangana has about 10 lakh spindles of which 8 lakhs run on cotton and balance on other fibres like synthetic and viscose. Unavailability of cotton is forcing mills to run on partial basis or to procure from Maharastra or Madhya Pradesh, which is economically unviable.

In a representation, Telangana Spinning & Textile Mills Association urged the State Government, Ministry of Textile and Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to come to the rescue of this labour and capital intensive industry, which employs thousands of rural woman workers.

Textile Mills in Telangana require at least 50,000 bales per day to be allocated through e-auction at reasonable market prices to tide over the troubled times they find themselves.

The association said that the State is also losing money as mills are procuring cotton on CST basis and the loss is almost Rs. 65 crore per year on VAT. This can be avoided if CCI offers its bales at market price to the mills.

The association stated that the Cotton Lint Sales Policy adopted by CCI is not consumer friendly. Against a total arrival of about 57 lakh bales in Telangana, CCI has purchased 50 lakh bales, amounting to 90 percent of the total arrivals of raw cotton from the State.

The Association said that the CCI procured maximum cotton in the states of Telangana and AP through MSP operations and there is huge shortage. CCI is holding 83 lakh bales of cotton all over India which will suffice the mills consumption for another 4-5 months, if atleast 50,000 bales are offered on daily basis through E-Auction.