Union Cabinet approves price support of Rs 17,408.85 cr to Cotton Commission of India

The Centre on Wednesday approved a Rs 17,408.85 crore ‘committed price support’ to the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) for seven cotton seasons from 2014-15 to 2020-21.

#Cabinet approves committed price support of Rs 17,408 crore to Cotton Commission of India, this is because 60 lakh farmers are directly engaged in cotton industry: Union Minister @ianuragthakur #CabinetDecisions pic.twitter.com/4Bu0El4PwC

— PIB India (@PIB_India) November 10, 2021

This came amid a slew of decisions including restoration of MPLADS taken at the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In another decision, the Cabinet approved reservation norms for Jute Packaging Materials for Jute Year 2021-22. As per the reservation norms, Thakur said, 100 percent foodgrains and 20 percent of sugar will be packed in jute bags during Jute Year 2021-22 under JPM Act, 1987.The decision is likely to bring relief to 3,70,000 workers employed in jute mills and ancillary units. The CCEA has approved incurring expenditure for reimbursing losses under MSP operations for cotton during the cotton season (October-September) 2014-15 to 2020-21. The CCEA has given its approval for committed price support of Rs 17,408.85 crore to the CCI for the cotton seasons from 2014-15 to 2020-21 (up to September 30, 2021), an official release said. In order to safeguard the interests of the cotton farmers, the government said the CCI procured cotton in large quantity during 2014-15 to 2020-21 as cotton prices touched the MSP prices. Its implementation enhances the inclusiveness of the cotton farmers in the economic activity of the country. Price support operations help stabilize the cotton prices and alleviate farmer’s distress, the Centre said. Briefing media on the Cabinet decisions, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said the CCI and authorised agencies procured 123 lakh cotton bales in 2019-20 and 100 lakh bales in 2020-21. The annual production is estimated at 350-360 lakh bales, which accounted for around 25 percent of total global cotton production. As per the Centre, cotton is one of the most important cash crops and plays a major role in sustaining livelihood of around 58 lakh cotton farmers and 400 to 500 lakh people engaged in related activities such as cotton processing and trade. The government fixes the MSP for seed cotton (kapas) on the basis of the recommendations of CACP. Government of India further appointed CCI as Central Nodal agency and CCI is mandated to undertake MSP in cotton by procuring all FAQ grade cotton from farmers without any quantitative celling, as and when cotton prices fall below MSP level. MSP operations protect cotton farmers from distress sale during any adverse price situation. MSP operations being sovereign function in nature motivates cotton farmers in the country to keep their sustained interest in cotton cultivation so as to make India Atambirbhar for quality cotton which is a raw material for spinning industry. CCI keep its infrastructure ready in all 11 major cotton growing States by opening 474 procurement centres in 143 districts. During global pandemic in the last two cotton seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21), CCI procured around 1/3rd of the cotton production in the country i.e. about 200 lakh bales and disbursed more than Rs.55,000/- crore directly in the bank accounts of around 40 lakh farmers. For current cotton season i.e. 2021-022, CCI has already made all adequate arrangements in all 11 major cotton growing states including deployment of man power at more than 450 procurement centres, so as to meet any eventuality of MSP operations. With inputs from PTI