India should aim to be global cotton price influencer, says CCI chief

Lalit Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), has called on all stakeholders in the Indian cotton sector to work towards making the country a price influencer in the international market. Speaking at the biannual cotton conference in Coimbatore on Friday, he emphasised the need to focus on productivity, quality, transparency, differentiation, and price discovery.

India is among the top five cotton producers in the world, but its production does not fully meet its domestic consumption needs. Gupta said the country's objective should be clear: to be a globally competitive producer. He stressed that improving productivity is essential to achieving this goal.

Under the Union government's Mission on Cotton, about five lakh hectares have been targeted in the first year to enhance productivity. A high-density planting method was tried on 25,000 hectares, and the yield achieved was 15 quintals of seed cotton per acre, according to Gupta.

On the quality front, the global market requires fibre that is consistent and free of contamination. Gupta urged the entire industry to collaborate to reduce contamination in Indian cotton, which has been a persistent challenge for exporters and domestic mills alike.

Another critical factor, he said, is price discovery. There is a need for transparency and standardisation in the market. Gupta noted that the industry currently operates with fragmented data, and there is a pressing need to generate accurate, real-time information that can be integrated across the entire value chain.

The CCI, a central public sector undertaking that supports the Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime for cotton, has procured 105 lakh bales of cotton from the market during the current cotton season. Of these, 94 lakh bales have been sold, leaving about 17 lakh bales in stock, Gupta informed the gathering.

K.V. Srinivasan, former president of the International Textile Manufacturers' Federation, also addressed the conference. He recalled that the Indian textile industry received a significant boost in the 1990s, driven by higher cotton yields in the domestic market. Now, he said, the time has come for a technology-led improvement in yields to compete with major cotton producers such as Brazil, the United States, and China.

Highlighting India's position, Srinivasan noted that of the total cotton produced globally, 74 percent comes from just four countries. India has 38 percent of the world's area under cotton cultivation, and if yields improve, India would emerge as the leader in cotton production.

The conference was organised jointly by the Indian Cotton Federation and the Indian Cotton Association in Coimbatore, a major hub for cotton trade and textile industry. The event brought together farmers, ginners, traders, millers, and policymakers to discuss the future of the Indian cotton sector.

Industry experts believe that a combination of better farming practices, investment in agricultural research, and improved market intelligence can help India move beyond being a volume producer to a price setter. As global cotton demand remains volatile, the call for greater efficiency and transparency has gained urgency.