AEPC demands ban on cotton exports

New Delhi, June 2 (KNN) The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has appealed the government to ban the export of cotton for a few months to ensure availability to the industry as an immediate measure.

Thanking the Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal for the newly constituted Textile Advisory Group, AEPC Chairman Narendra Goenka requested the government to intermittently impose a ban on cotton exports for a few months.

“Considering that this initiative will certainly have its impact, but in the long run, the apparel industry would like to again reiterate its request for immediate measures to control the cotton yarn prices which has increased to an extent of 125 per cent in the past 18 month,” he added.

Appreciating the efforts of the government, Goenka said, “The formation of the Textile Advisory group will act as an active interface between the different stakeholders in the textiles value chain, besides alarming and mitigating the crisis like raw material storage, increasing productivity and containing inflation, etc.”  

He called it another stepping stone towards helping the industry, and said we are sure this step will be instrumental in bridging the gap between production and consumption of cotton and ensure raw material security in the long run.

Goenka further said that the garment industry will make all efforts to reach the export target of USD 20 billion. However he urged calibrating cotton yarn exports and reducing the export benefit on cotton and cotton yarn exports from India, on an immediate basis.  (KNN Bureau)