Cotton body in talks with Centre for export subsidy

The Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers' Marketing Federation is in talks with the Centre on the issue of export subsidies on cotton procured by the federation.

"Cotton Corporation of India gets subsidy of around 3 cents on exports; we are also demanding a similar kind of subsidy from the Centre," an official of the federation said.

However, he asserted that no official notification in this regard has been issued till now. The federation has procured around 4.33 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) of cotton on behalf of the Maharashtra government and sold around 1.3 million bales till now.

The Maharashtra State Cooperative Cotton Growers' Marketing Federation is the nodal agency for cotton procurement in Maharashtra.

On the issue of exports to China, the official said there were no export orders at the current price level. "However if a subsidy is allowed, there are opportunities in China," he said.

World cotton production in 2004-05 has been good and India's production touched a new high.