SIMA Appeals To PM For Not Allowing Cotton Export Till Jan.

SIMA, the apex body of textile mills, has appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not allowing further cotton exports till January 31 next year to enable the country to build necessary buffer stock and overcome the raw material crisis.

In a memorandum submitted to Dr. Singh during his visit here yesterday, SIMA also requested that raw cotton export should be permitted only after January every season, so that a realistic assessment of the exportable surplus could be made on the basis of reliable data on cotton production and consumption.

To have a level playing field on cost of funding, Indian Textile mills need to be provided with special working capital assistance for purchase of raw cotton at the rate of 7 per cent interest rate, nine months credit period and 10 per cent margin money as against the present level of 14 per cent, three months and 25 per cent, respectively.

This was very essential to enable the Indian mills to procure adequate cotton during December-March every cotton season and pay remunerative prices to the cotton farmers and also to have a level playing field with traders, Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), said in the memorandum.

This would also help in arresting hoarding and speculation of cotton prices and ultimately strengthen the entire cotton textile value chain, J Thulasidharan, Chairman, SIMA, said.

The Centre has allowed export of 5.5 million bales of cotton and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had recently requested to enhance the quantity by 1.5 million bales.

Source : thehindu.com