India's 2017/18 cotton output seen rising 9.3 percent from year ago - government official

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's cotton production in 2017/18 is likely to rise 9.3 percent from a year ago to 37.7 million bales, lower than initial expectations of 40 million bales as a pink bollworm attack hit productivity, a government official said on Tuesday.

The world's biggest cotton producer is likely to export 6.7 million bales in the current marketing year started Oct. 1, up 15.1 percent from 5.82 million bales a year ago, Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta said.

Earlier, industry officials were estimating exports of 7.5 million bales of 170 kg each.

A 19 percent jump in the area planted for cotton had prompted industry officials to estimate record production of 40 million bales in the 2017/2018 season starting Oct. 1.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav)