C&A to buy organic cotton from India

"C&A will source 7,500 tonnes of organic cotton from India this year," Anuradha Bhavnani, the India head of Shell Foundation, an organisation instrumental in sourcing Indian organic cotton for global customers, said.

UK-based Shell Foundation, funded by petroleum major Shell, has been working with Indian cotton farmers through NGOs.

C&A has 1,172 stores across 16 EU countries. The clothes made from Indian cotton will be available in all its outlets, Bhavnani said.

 

C&A Executive Board Member Andreas G Seitz said in a statement, "For many years, C&A Europe has been purchasing products from India. In the coming years, we plan to strengthen our existing commitment to organically-produced cotton made in India."

By 2012, C&A hopes to switch more than 20 per cent of its product range to organic cotton, Seitz said.

Bhavnani noted that C&A would be able to manufacture about 12.5 million items of clothing, including jeans and T-shirts, from Indian organic cotton.

Apart from some global players, Shell Foundation is also talking to a big retail chain in India for supply of organic cotton.

An assured market for organic agriculture product will encourage Indian farmers to grow more of such items.