India will be the largest cotton producer : Piyush Goyal

MUMBAI : India will strive to become the largest cotton producer globally, Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, said in Mumbai on Saturday, inaugurating an annual global meeting of a UN recognised body of cotton producing and consuming nations.

At the 81st plenary session of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the Minister said India has the largest area under cotton cultivation and is the second largest producer. “We need to become the world’s largest producer,” Shri Goyal stressed, adding that the textile advisory group on cotton will work towards improving productivity similar to the level in countries like Australia.

India will provide leadership in cotton textiles and technical textiles. It has two advisory groups – for cotton and manmade fibre. These groups have representation from the entire textile value chain and take policy decisions with inputs from sector representatives. India has also launched PM MITRA – a Central government scheme to set up mega textile parks and promote the entire value chain.

Shri Goyal further said that the National Technical Textiles Mission promotes research and development in technical textiles. These are manmade fabric meant for a specific function and are not generally used for apparel or aesthetic appeal.

The Indian textile industry is working towards achieving $250 billion by 2030, including $ 100 billion exports, he said.

In a fortnight, the Textile Ministry and the Department of Consumer Affairs would open state-of-the-art testing laboratories nationwide to ensure high quality textile products are manufactured and exported from India, Shri Goyal said, introducing the “Kasturi Cotton Bharat” brand, which he claimed could be traceable using blockchain technology, and that it would be “carbon positive”.

The first set of textile products made using Kasturi cotton were also introduced at the event. Indian cotton farmers will benefit from drone-based pesticide spraying launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi recently, the Minister said, adding that the use of innovation and Internet of Things will benefit Indian cotton farmers.

The four-day event on “Cotton Value Chain: Local Innovations for Global prosperity” is expected to be attended by delegates from 35 countries.