When we export cotton we are exporting textile jobs

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: Cotton consumption in India has been increasing substantially and with huge investments going into the spinning industry in recent years, this trend is bound to continue. Thus, the danger of low consumption driving prices down does not exist. Government has been carefully examining the cotton economy and announcing minimum support prices for cotton every year, on the basis of its assessment of price levels that would ensure reasonable remuneration to farmers. Cotton prices in the country have been substantially above the MSPs for several years now. So long as cotton consumption in the country keeps on growing, cotton prices will also keep increasing, irrespective of the quantity of cotton exported.

It is essential to make a clear distinction between exports and uncontrolled exports. The textile industry has never said and does not believe that Indian cotton should not be exported. The industry has only been suggesting that exports of this vital raw material should be restricted to exportable surplus available in the country. China and Pakistan, which are the other two major cotton and cotton textile producing countries, have been calibrating cotton exports on the basis of domestic requirements. Even USA, which is the third largest producer of cotton and has very limited cotton consumption, has procedural controls on its cotton exports.

It is important to note that more than two-thirds of our cotton is still consumed by the Indian textile industry and bleeding this industry cannot help farmers. In a possible situation of low demand in international markets at any time, neither foreign textile industries nor cotton traders will come to the rescue of our farmers. Indian textile industry and our cotton farmers are highly interdependent. Very low cotton prices will drive farmers to other crops and very high prices will drive the industry to other fibres or to closure. Maintaining a proper balance in cotton prices is therefore in the long term interest of both the farmers and the industry. And maintaining a proper balance in cotton exports is the best way of ensuring this.