Restrictions on cotton exports lifted: Rahul Khullar

NEW DELHI: The government has lifted export restrictions on cotton and allowed it to be shipped under open general licences (OGL) for the rest of the cotton season responding to a fall in prices of the commodity and its adequate availability in the country. “We have decided to lift export restrictions as there is adequate stock of cotton in the country,” commerce secretary Rahul Khullar told ET.

In the remaining two months of the cotton season — that runs from October to September — exporters will only have to register with the directorate general of foreign trade ( DGFT) to send shipments. They will be free to export any quantity they want. The government had placed a cap on cotton exports at 55 lakh bales (170 kg each) in October last year to check spiralling prices and ensure availability of the raw material for the domestic textiles industry.

An additional 10 lakh bales were permitted for export in June, after prices declined. Prices have gone down to about Rs 31,000 per candy (356 kg) now from the peak of Rs 62,500 per candy in March-end. Representatives of cotton ginners from seven cotton growing states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, had written to the agriculture ministry asking for export restrictions to be lifted as domestic demand of cotton was going down and there was a possibility of a large carryover stock by the end of the season. According Cotton Advisory Board, the cotton surplus at the end of the current season would be 52.5 lakh bales on account of lower industry demand.