Indian Economy News

Union Textiles Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal holds sixth interactive meeting with the Textile Advisory Group in Rajkot to review initiatives for cotton value chain

Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Mr. Piyush Goyal, presided over the sixth interactive meeting with the Textile Advisory Group (TAG) on April 22, 2023, to review the progress of initiatives for the cotton value chain, as part of the Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam, which is being conducted under the 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' Initiative in Gujarat in Rajkot.

Mr. Piyush Goyal applauded the progress made in the initiative on the traceability, certification, and branding of Kasturi Cotton India and remarked that the branding of Indian Cotton will greatly enhance the entire cotton value chain from producers to end users. He emphasised that the quality of Indian cotton benefits both farmers and industry.

Meetings of the Steering Committee and Apex Committee have taken place, and project funding has been released, and work on Kasturi India Cotton Traceability, Certification, and Branding has begun. He urged the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) to make aggressive efforts to brand Kasturi cotton as premium cotton in domestic and international markets.

Meetings of the Steering Committee and Apex Committee have taken place, and project funding have been released, and work on Kasturi India Cotton Traceability, Certification, and Branding has begun. He urged TEXPROCIL to make aggressive efforts to brand Kasturi cotton as premium cotton in domestic and international markets.

Final approval was obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) for a comprehensive strategy to increase cotton productivity by focusing on the technologies of HDPS, Closer Spacing, and ELS with a budget of US$ 5.10 million (Rs. 4186.85 lakh). Rajasthan has completed the cluster-wise identification of villages and farmers, and work on this has begun in all other cotton-growing states where sowing will begin in the upcoming cotton season 2023–2024.

The identification of villages/farmers by cluster has been completed in Rajasthan, and it is currently being completed in all the remaining cotton-growing states where sowing will begin for the upcoming cotton season 2023-24. Mr. Goyal emphasised the importance of enhancing organic cotton certification processes and urged industry to play an active role in promoting organic cotton production among cotton farmers.

Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, Ms. Darshana V. Jardosh and TAG Chairman Mr. Suresh Kotak also led the TAG meeting. Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Ms. Rachna Shah, urged all parties involved in the cotton value chain to cooperate in order to realise the PM's vision of the five Fs—from Farm to Foreign—in the cotton textile value chain and regain Supremacy in cotton to increase value returns to producers.

During the meeting, representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, CCI, APEDA, and BIS, as well as other senior officials from related Ministries and stakeholders from the whole cotton value chain, were present.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.