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Cotton growers and farm activists say the extension comes at the wrong time. The severe drought has cut down yield, shrunk returns from the cotton crop — the staple produce of Vidarbha. If the duty-free regime allows cheaper imports in this season, rates of domestic cotton will crash, say farmers. The textile lobby on other hand sought cheaper imports to plug the shortfall in domestic production triggered by drought, say industry players.
Normally at this time, markets are stashed with produce, but currently it’s less than 50% of last year’s arrivals,” said Roshan Kothari, director at a private agriculture produce market committee (APMC) in Wani. Ganesh Nanote, a farmer in Akola, said rates slid by Rs 400 a quintal. Because of the huge shortfall in domestic production caused by drought, “We demanded extension of duty-free imports.
“The extension is ill-timed,” he added. Yavatmal’s Manish Jadhav of Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghatan said the govt should not only impose customs duty on cotton import, but also grant a bonus over and above minimum support price (MSP). Farmers also have the protection of MSP purchases by govt,” said Prashant Mohta of Gima Tex, a Nagpur-based textile company. The overall shortage may keep rates on a higher side, said a miller.
“The prices have dipped as the extension of duty-free imports impacted sentiments. The actual impact may only be seen when arrivals increase. Textile players on the other hand say, there may not be much impact on domestic rates. To source cotton from abroad at competitive rates the duty had to be removed. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Nagpur | Silver Rate in Nagpur | Bank Holidays in Nagpur | Public Holidays in Nagpur | Petrol Price in Nagpur | Diesel Price in Nagpur | CNG Price in Nagpur | LPG Price in Nagpur