President's Message
K. M. Subramanian
Tiruppur Trade Associations Under AEPC Chairman Hold Discussions With Senior Union Ministers on Cotton Import Duty, Seeks Measures to Enhance India’s Global Competitiveness
A delegation under the leadership of our Honorary Chairman and Chairman of AEPC Padmashri Dr A. Sakthivel, including our President Shri K.M. Subramanian and Office bearers of SIHMA, DAT, TEKMA, SIIMKA, TEKPA and TTPK met Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Shri Giriraj Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles, and submitted representations seeking reduction of import duty on cotton from the existing 11% to 0%
Dr. L. Murugan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, coordinated the meetings and facilitated the delegation’s interactions with all the concerned Union Ministers.
The delegation highlighted that while competing apparel exporting nations are able to access cotton at internationally competitive prices the Indian manufacturers continue to face higher raw material costs due to the prevailing import duty structure and the reduction in import duty on cotton is essential to help the Indian apparel industry to secure greater business by using the opportunities from FTA partner countries and enhance India’s competitiveness in the global market.
The industry leaders also pointed out that the textile industry’s cotton requirement for the current year is projected at around 337 lakh bales, while cotton arrival for the 2025–26 season is estimated at only 292.15 lakh bales, resulting in a supply-demand gap of 45 lakh bales. The shortfall is expected to increase pressure on spinning mills and downstream textile industries due to rising input costs and limited availability of quality raw materials.
In response to industry requests and to augment availability of cotton for the Indian textile sector, the Central Government has temporarily exempted all customs duties on import of cotton from 1st June, 2026 till 30th October, 2026.
We sincerely thank the Government of India for offering this relief during this challenging period. We are also grateful to Padmashri Dr. A. Sakthivel Anna for taking up this matter with the Government continuously.
