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Informist, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025

 

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--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: Cotton output in 2025-26 seen dn YoY at 30 mln bales
--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: See '25-26 cotton area at 11 mln ha, largely unch YoY
--CONTEXT: Cotton Corp of India MD Lalit Kumar Gupta's comments in interview
--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: Global, domestic cotton prices at four-year low
--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: Gap between cotton market price, MSP has widened
--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: Prices of competitive manmade fibres have come down
--Cotton Corp MD: Govt to take call on duty-free import of cotton in Dec
--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: Cotton procurement for 2025-26 started in 10 states
--Cotton Corp MD Gupta: Ginners in 8 states have started buying cotton  
--Cotton Corp MD:Cotton arrivals in central, south India to pick up Nov wk 1
--Cotton Corp MD:Of total cotton arrivals so far, only 5-10% of good quality

 

By Taniva Singha Roy and Abhijit Doshi

 

MUMBAI – India's cotton output during the 2025-26 (Oct-Sept) season is likely to be around 30 million bales (1 bale equals 170 kg), down from 31.24 million bales during the previous season, due to a fall in yield as well as some damage to crops in some areas from heavy rainfall, according to Lalit Kumar Gupta, chairman and managing director of Cotton Corp. of India.

 

The area under cotton in 2025-26 is expected to be largely steady from the previous season at 11 million hectares, Gupta said. In 2024-25, the area under cotton was at 11.2 million hectares, down from 12 million hectares in the previous season, according to data from the Cotton Association of India, a market participants' lobby group. "If I go with the average of the previous years, and of course, there has been some damage (to the crop) of about 10-15 lakh bales (1.0-1.5 million bales) due to these excessive rains in Haryana, Punjab, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Gujarat... production should not be less than 300 lakh bales (30 million bales) for the 2025-26 season," Gupta told Informist in an interview.

 

The Cotton Corp. of India is under the Ministry of Textiles and aims to support cotton farmers by ensuring a remunerative price for their produce. For this purpose, Cotton Corp. of India undertakes procurement and selling operations.

 

In 2024-25, due to ample rainfall, many farmers had shifted to other crops which were more remunerative and more water-intensive. "And when they don't have adequate rains or monsoon, then people go as a last resort to cotton," Gupta said. The area under cotton cultivation has fallen in the last few years due to fears of pink bollworm destroying the crop and changes in climatic conditions. "However, I don't think the area will go down further in the current season," he said.

 

SUBDUED PRICES

Sentiments are poor for cotton in both domestic and international markets, Gupta said. Cotton prices fell to a four-year low in October due to weak global demand and strong production in key regions like Brazil and China.

 

Cotton prices have been on a downward trend for the past few years and are likely to fall even further this year, Gupta said. In 2024-25, prices fell to INR 53,000 per candy (1 candy = 356 kg) from INR 58,000 during 2023-24 and INR 62,000 during 2022-23, he added.

 

On the other hand, the minimum support prices for cotton have been increasing every year, he said. The minimum support price for the 2025-26 season is set at INR 7,710 per 100 kg for medium staple cotton and at INR 8,110 per 100 kg for long staple cotton, both up INR 589 from a year ago. This has led to procurement costs being higher than the selling price for Cotton Corp. of India, Gupta said. "Today, the market prices of lint or the bales in the lint form are the lowest of the last four years," he said.

 

In fact, the difference between the support price and the market price of cotton has widened in the last four years. "Last year (2024-25), the MSP was up by 29% from 2020-21," Gupta said. "But certainly, as far as farmers are concerned, we pay the full amount and sell at the coordinated market price."

 

Moreover, prices of synthetic or manmade fibre have also been steady or down for the past few years due to steady prices of crude oil, which is a raw material used for making synthetic fibres such as polyester, acrylic, and nylon. That is why cotton prices are also not picking up, tracking the competing fibre prices, he said.

 

Asked about the government's plans to bring back import duty on cotton to help boost farmers' income, Gupta said the government will consider the matter in December, after assessing the interests of farmers and other stakeholders. "At this moment, I can't say anything, but the government will take a call at an appropriate time," the Cotton Corp. MD said.

 

The government had removed the import duty on cotton from Aug. 19 to Sept. 30, and then extended this exemption until Dec. 31, 2025, to increase the availability of raw cotton for the Indian textile sector. This included the removal of both the 5?sic customs duty, the 5% agriculture infrastructure and development cess, and a 10% social welfare surcharge on both, resulting cumulatively in an 11% import duty on cotton.

 

EXPORTS

India normally exports more than 1 million bales of cotton annually, with Bangladesh being one of the major importers of the commodity. But due to political uncertainty in Bangladesh and a halt in exports through land route, cotton exports have fallen this year. "Otherwise, we could have done better exports," Gupta said.

 

India has halted exports to Bangladesh through land routes for certain goods, including apparel, processed foods, and plastic items, citing trade imbalances and unfair practices by the latter.

 

India is expected to have exported 1.8 million bales of cotton in 2024-25, down from 2.8 million bales the previous year, according to data by the Cotton Association of India.

 

Gupta believes India should export final products instead of raw materials. "I would suggest that people import the raw material and have a value addition in the country and then export it (final products)."

 

GINNERS' PARTICIPATION

Recently, cotton ginners in some states have protested against the reform measures in the procurement process that the government had announced. However, this issue has now been resolved, Gupta said. Of the 10 states where procurement has started, ginners from eight states have participated in the process, said Gupta.

 

Cotton procurement was stalled due to a stalemate with ginning mills, which buy cotton from farmers on behalf of the central agency and pack it into bales. Ginning mills in Telangana, particularly in the Warangal district, didn't participate in tenders floated by the agency for cotton procurement and processing work for this season, citing the new regulatory norms related to lint percentage, bidder allotments, slot booking, and area mapping.

 

Ginners wanted to have a better understanding of the new norms which have been explained to them, and in most states they are now on board, Gupta said. "Once you bring it (a new change), initial troubles will be there, but we are taking care of everyone concerned to address the issue. And (now) even the ginners, state governments, central government, are all on board to ensure ultimately, the farmers do not suffer. They should have seamless selling of their cotton," he added.

 

According to reports, the Centre, after holding discussions with states, agreed to revise the lint percentage every 15 days during the procurement to match market conditions.

 

Gupta said procurement has already started in the northern states, while in Gujarat and Odisha, it will start next week. Procurement has already started in Rajasthan, and arrivals have also started to pick up, he said. Due to heavy rainfall during the last week of September, arrivals were delayed. These are likely to pick up in southern and central states from the first week of November instead of October end, he said.

 

In terms of the quality of arrivals, Gupta said only 5-10% of the total arrivals may be of good quality as there is higher moisture content due to heavy rainfall. The good quality pressed cotton is being sold to private traders, he added.

 

Gupta also mentioned an innovation introduced for the benefit of farmers. Cotton Corp. has recently launched the Kapas Kisan mobile application. This facilitates self-registration by farmers and slot booking. "And we know who is coming tomorrow to sell the cotton," he said.

 

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

To address the problem of stagnant yield in cotton cultivation, the Ministry of Textiles has been suggesting high-density planting and mechanisation, besides opting for new seed varieties, Gupta said. Various research initiatives for the same are in process.

 

As far as new technologies are concerned, the Union Budget 2025-26 had announced a mini-mission on boosting cotton productivity. So, while that is underway, some of the documentation and other things are taking place, Gupta said. 

 

 

Once the mission on cotton productivity starts, a lot of technological intervention at the farm level will augment the supply of good-quality cotton. Alternative natural fibres are also under consideration for cultivation. When the mission is through, there will be a lot of improvement in the entire cotton value chain, Gupta said.  End

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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