The government has announced a temporary exemption on all customs duties for the import of cotton from June 1 to October 30. This move aims to increase the availability of cotton for the Indian textile sector amid geopolitical tensions. The exemption is expected to lower input costs in the textile and apparel industry, offering relief to manufacturers and consumers while considering the interests of domestic farmers.
The measure is anticipated to positively impact the performance of the domestic textile industry, particularly benefiting small and medium enterprises by ensuring better availability of cotton in the market. Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved an outlay of Rs 5,659.22 crore for the Mission for Cotton Productivity (2026–27 to 2030–31). This mission targets addressing bottlenecks, declining growth, and quality concerns in India’s cotton sector.
Aligned with the government’s 5F vision (Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign), the mission focuses on enhancing cotton productivity through various strategies. These include developing high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds resistant to disease and pests, scaling up crop production technologies, ensuring a least-contaminant cotton supply to the industry, and promoting high-quality cotton exports.
The mission emphasizes the development of high-yielding, climate-resilient, pest-resistant seeds, and other production technologies. It also aims to upscale improved cotton production technologies like High Density Planting System (HDPS) and Closer Spacing (CS), among others. Furthermore, the mission works on enhancing cotton quality through capacity building, modernizing ginning and processing factories, and strengthening cotton testing infrastructure nationwide for reliable quality assessment and global benchmarking.
