Textile lobby seeks audience with Maran on cotton shortage

Textile industry in the region today sought an audience with Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran to discuss and find solutions to various problems, including non-availability of quality cotton being faced by the sector for the last couple of years.

India Spinning Mill owners Association (ISMA) said, in a memorandum to Maran, that the industry, which was reeling under crisis for the last two years, due to various reasons was in a deeper crisis following the global slowdown.

The Government should take steps to ensure supply of quality cotton seeds to the farmers and also remunerative prices to their produce so that the textile mills could get quality cotton, ISMA President A R Chinniyan said.

He alleged that some 'vested interests,' who were not related to textile industry, were dominating the cotton trade, due to which mills have to pay higher prices, without any benefit to the growers.

Chinniyan suggeted that there was a need to streamline cotton trade, which should be beneficial to the farmers and mills.

Moreover, cotton exports should be allowed only after catering to the domestic requirements, he said. Besides spinners, related sectors like handloom and powerloom industries were also facing problems, he added.