Import Duty Exemption On Cotton Extended Till December 31
Mumbai, 30th May 2022: Amidst the unprecedented increase in the prices of cotton and yarn in the current season, the central government has extended the import duty exemption on cotton till December 31.
In such a situation, Union Minister Piyush Goyal has directed the concerned officials to “finalize the matter at the earliest” with regard to the availability of cotton. The government last month had waived all customs duty on its imports till September 30 to bring down the price of cotton.
The Minister of Textiles and Commerce Industry, Piyush Goyal, held a meeting with the newly formed Textiles Advisory Group in Mumbai on Sunday to address issues related to augmenting the current supply of cotton and strengthening productivity.
In this, the Minister called for facilitating imports and resolving procedural requirements from countries where stocks are available to meet the current requirement.
According to an official statement, “Addressing the short-term growth outlook by imports, Textiles Secretary Upendra Prasad Singh advised the industry to approach the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for procedural requirements to start imports from certain countries.”
According to the statement, “With regard to extension of exemption period of import duty till December 31, 2022, Goyal directed the concerned authorities to finalize the matter at the earliest.”
Suresh Kotak, Chairman, Textiles Advisory Group, emphasized the need to improve the seed system to ensure availability of seeds especially for sowing early maturing new varieties and to increase the productivity of Indian cotton. Kotak informed that as per the estimates of Committee on Cotton Production and Consumption, the carry over/closing stock is 41.27 lakh bales, which is approximately equal to 12.66 per cent utilization ratio and stock for 45 days of consumption.
