No plan to ban or limit cotton exports: Maran

Asking mills and apparel exporters not to panic "unnecessarily" on availability of cotton in the domestic market, Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran today said the Centre is not considering imposing a ban on cotton export or putting a cap on the quantity to be exported.

"I think the industry is unnecessarily panicking. There is enough production in our country... The government is not considering any kind of ban on export of cotton. There is no need to panic, we are not going to intervene to put any ceiling. It is not just necessary," Maran told reporters here.

Industry bodies like Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), Confederation of Indian Textile and Industry (CITI) and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) have been demanding a ban on cotton export to augment domestic availability and curb the prices of fibre.

They have also sought putting a quantitative restriction on cotton export of four lakh bales a month. Maran noted that cotton production is expected to be around 290 lakh bales and there is a carry over stock of 40-45 lakh bales, taking the total availability to 330 lakh bales.

"Peak export of cotton was in 2008-09 where 85 lakh bales were exported. There is a registration of 44 lakh bales, only 7 lakh bales have been actually exported (this year). There is a tendency now of panicking and knee jerk reaction," he added.