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11% Cotton Duty Waiver: Textile Industry Thanks Centre and Tamil Nadu Govt

L Rajagopal SimpliCity News Team · 02 Jun 2026

Coimbatore: The textile industry has expressed its gratitude to the Central Government for granting a temporary exemption from the 11% import duty on cotton, describing the move as a major relief for the sector.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) premises in Coimbatore on Tuesday, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) Chairman Ashwin Chandran, Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) Vice Chairman Ravi Sam, SIMA Chairman Durai Palanisamy, Vice Chairman Krishnakumar, and Secretary General Selvaraj welcomed the decision.

The representatives credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh for enabling the exemption. They further thanked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay for his intervention with the Centre in support of the textile industry.

According to industry leaders, India’s textile exports are currently benefiting from favourable global market conditions, duty-free trade agreements, and export promotion policies. However, the industry had struggled to fully utilise these opportunities because premium-quality cotton sourced from specific countries was costing 10 to 15 per cent more than prevailing international prices due to the import duty.

The Centre, through a notification issued on May 30, 2026, exempted cotton imports from the 11% duty from June 1 to October 31, 2026. Industry representatives said the measure would help bridge the gap in cotton availability during the off-season and ensure access to quality raw material.

They noted that cotton prices have already begun to soften, prompting spinning mills to reduce yarn prices. This, they said, would help exporters fulfil existing commitments, secure new orders, and improve the global competitiveness of Indian textile products.

The industry further pointed out that cotton accounts for nearly 65% of yarn production costs and 25-30% of the manufacturing cost of garments and home textile products. Ensuring the availability of quality cotton at competitive prices is therefore crucial for the sector, which provides employment to nearly 80 million people, particularly in rural areas.

Industry leaders also urged the government to continue granting import duty exemptions during the cotton off-season, from April to October, until 2030. Such a move, they said, would help the textile sector achieve its long-term goals of generating a business turnover of USD 350 billion, exports worth USD 100 billion, attracting investments of USD 100 billion, and creating employment for nearly 20 million additional people.

textile industry cotton import duty CITI TEXPROCIL SIMA textile manufacturing cotton shortage export raw material

11% Cotton Duty Waiver: Textile Industry Thanks Centre and Tamil Nadu Govt

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