The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) welcomed the temporary removal of 11 percent import duty on cotton from June 1 to October 30 as a momentum for the Indian textile and apparel industry.
In a statement released here on Saturday, Ashwin Chandran, CITI Chairman, said, “Amid the ongoing global volatility and uncertainty, the 11percent import duty on cotton was acting as a major hindrance to the Indian textile and apparel sector in raising its global competitiveness since our major Asian competitors already have duty-free access to cotton.”
Chandran noted that the cotton import duty is contributing to costs going up across the value chain and having a detrimental impact on scaling India’s textile and apparel exports.
India’s textile exports are dominated by cotton. India is aiming for USD 100 billion in textiles and apparel exports by 2030. “With this temporary relief in the cotton import duty, India’s textile and apparel exporters can better leverage opportunities that are emerging from the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs),” he said.
The CITI Chairman noted that the demand-supply gap arising from steadily decreasing cotton production in India necessitated the need for imports to bridge the gap. “Cotton imports are largely quality and specification-driven, catering to specialised requirements and back-to-back export orders. They do not displace domestic cotton.”
A recent joint study by Gherzi and the International Cotton Advisory Committee noted that indian industry requires a cotton policy environment that will allow us to compete with our Asian peers that have free access to international cotton without any import duty.
The textile and apparel sector is India’s second-biggest employer and a major contributor to the GDP and exports. Textile and Apparel Exports declined 2.2 per cent in dollar terms year-on-year in FY26 to USD 35.79 billion.
