SKM Slams Cotton Import Duty Extension

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) The extension of import duty exemption on cotton will have a more detrimental effect on cotton farmers, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said on Friday.

In a statement issued here, the SKM said the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has been procuring below 13 per cent of the domestic production for the last 11 years and the farmers were forced to sell 87 per cent of the raw cotton in the open market at distress prices.

"Despite farmers in the cotton belt strongly protesting against the import duty exemption, the Ministry of Finance has extended duty exemption till 31st December 2025. The extension up to 31st December will be more detrimental to cotton farmers since the harvesting season will start by October 2025," SKM said.

"SKM considers the move as an affront against the entire farming community and calls upon the farmers across the crops to join the protest on 1, 2, 3 September 2025 to burn the copies of the notification in villages all over India," they said.

SKM called upon all farmers to come together and launch an intense agitation to force the government to reverse this decision. The cotton farmers will march to the respective Members of Parliament and the date will be decided by the SKM leadership at the state level, they said.

SKM said textile export to the US constitutes mere 6 per cent of Indian textile exports and below 1.5 per cent of the accumulated value of the textile industry in India.

The textile and apparel industry in the country in 2024 amounts to Rs 15,13,850 crore of which Rs 12, 34,400 crore comes under the domestic market.

The export market is Rs 3,21,900 crore, of which the export to US amounts to only Rs.20, 984 crore in the year 2024, SKM said.

The SKM said cotton farmers have suffered an estimated loss of Rs 18,850 crore, due to denial of remunerative MSP at Rs 10,075 per quintal.

"Though the domestic economy is capable of absorbing the gap in export to the US, in the pretext of the crisis, the monopoly trade and industrial corporate forces aided by the Modi government are hell bent on looting the cotton farmers," they said.

"The Union government should not allow cheap imports for monopoly corporate companies in the textile industry and trade in the name of promotion of the textile sector as that will ruin cotton farmers," they said.

The government on Thursday announced an extension of the import duty exemption on cotton until December 31.

This follows the initial waiver of 11 per cent import duty introduced on August 19, which was set to expire on September 30.