Ginners seek relief from govts

As cotton production in Punjab and Haryana takes a plunge in the wake of whitefly attack, ginners of the two states seek relief from their governments, to save their industry.

Ginners in Punjab have demanded that the state government waive market fee and rural development fund levy on cotton and relaxation in payment of power rates.

In Haryana, ginners have sought removal of disparities in tax structure and fiscal incentives for existing units to boost the seasonal industry.

"We demand that Punjab government waive the market fee and RDF for six months on cotton, so that we may purchase crop from Haryana and Rajasthan. Otherwise, the whole ginning industry in Punjab will collapse," said Punjab Cotton Factories & Ginners' Association president Bhagwan Bansal.

He further said the industry was also not able to pay monthly minimum charges of power.

"We are demanding that state government charge on the basis of actual consumption rather than fixed charges from ginners," Bansal said.

Punjab ginners are seeking relief from the state government in view of lesser crop arrivals in mandis because of extensive damage caused to crop by whitefly attack.

"Only 700,000 bales of cotton will arrive out of 1,500,000 expected," Bansal pointed out.

"How will we run our ginning factories when there is heavy crop damage in the state?" he said.