Govt to fix cotton export quota tomorrow.

The government will tomorrow fix cotton export quota beyond which the shipments of natural fibre would attract prohibitive duty.

Recently, the government has decided to lift cotton export restrictions from October 1.
"The Commerce Secretary along with secretaries of agriculture and textiles ministries will meet here tomorrow to assess the domestic requirement and the expected production during the coming cotton season (2010-11) and fix cotton exports quota," a source said.

He added, later, the government would impose export duty to curb the shipments, once the exporters exhaust their limits, so that the domestic demand of the natural fibre could be met.

The cotton season starts from October till September.

Earlier, the government had announced that the Rs 2,500 per tonne export duty on cotton and the Textiles Commissioner would start registration of the mandatory cotton contracts from September 1.

India''s cotton exports increased to 83 lakh bales (170 kg each) during October-September 2009-10 cotton season, compared to 35 lakhs in the same period of 2008-09, as per official estimates.

India''s cotton production is expected to rise marginally at 5.1 million tonnes in 2010-11 crop year (July-June), against 5.01 million tonnes, while the domestic demand is estimated to rise at 4.59 million tonnes, against 4.25 million tonnes, according to the Confederation of India Textiles Industry estimates.

Source : news.in.msn.com