Implementation of cotton bales quality control order under `BIS Act 2016’ is a must for standardisation of cotton bales in terms of technical quality parameters and identification of cotton bale traceability that would benefit all stakeholders, Commerce & Industry and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

It is high time for branding Indian cotton and creating loyalty and a pull for ‘Kasturi’ branded products (an initiative of the Textiles Ministry to promote high quality cotton) from consumers, Goyal said at the third interactive meeting with the Textile Advisory Group in New Delhi on Monday to review initiatives for cotton value chain. 

The Minister asked the industry to be on the forefront and work on the principle of self-regulation by owning the responsibility of branding and certifying Indian cotton ‘Kasturi’.

Stressing on the need for implementation of cotton bales quality control order, Goyal pointed out that quality of Indian cotton fiber was of paramount importance.

Increasing productivity

For increasing cotton productivity, Goyal said supply of good quality cotton seeds was the need of the hour and required concrete action from related Ministries on “war footing”. 

“He also stressed on the need to introduce advanced technologies related to high yielding cotton seeds and innovative agronomy such as High-Density Planting System to enhance productivity of cotton,” according to an official statement.

To promote mechanisation of picking by use of handheld kapas plucker machines developed by SIMA-CDRA, Goyal asked the textile industry to also chip in to popularise mechanisation. “The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) will take up this project in mission mode with distribution support from Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. Industry Associations and Industry leaders together agreed to fund 75,000 handheld kapas plucker machines,” the release said.

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