New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) The Centre has procured 99.41 lakh bales of cotton directly from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP), as on March 25 this year, out of the total arrival of 260.11 lakh bales in the market, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

Similarly, the government spent Rs 11,712 crore under MSP operations for buying cotton from farmers during the cotton season in 2023-24. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) supported the farmers and procured 32.84 lakh bales under MSP operations, benefiting about 7.25 lakh cotton farmers in all cotton-growing states, Minister of State for Textiles Pabitra Margherita told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The government provides MSP to ensure remunerative prices to cotton farmers and saves them from distress sales in any eventuality of Fair Average Quality (FAQ) cotton prices falling below the MSP. The government purchases prevent the price from falling below the MSP level, the minister said.

Further, for global branding of Indian textiles, the government has registered Kasturi Cotton as India’s brand trademark to give a unique identity to premium quality Indian cotton, the minister said.

The support to cotton farmers plays a key role in promoting the growth of India’s textile exports.

Listing the government’s efforts to promote textile exports, the minister said the Global Mega Textile Event BHARAT TEX 2025 was successfully organised in February this year by the Textile Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and supported by the Ministry of Textiles, to showcase, India’s prowess as a premier textile manufacturing hub, encompassing the entire value chain from raw materials to finished products. The event highlighted the diversity and richness of Indian textiles, while emphasising the industry’s manufacturing strength, global competitiveness, as well as its commitment to sustainability and circularity.

In order to popularise Indian textiles in global markets and to promote Indian textiles, the government is also implementing various initiatives such as the PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme which seeks to create a modern, integrated, world class textile infrastructure; Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme focusing on man-made fibre (MMF) fabric, MMF apparel, and technical textiles to boost large scale manufacturing and enhancing competitiveness; National Technical Textiles Mission focusing on research innovation & development, promotion and market Development; SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector with the objective providing demand driven, placement oriented skilling programmes, the minister added.

–IANS

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