Cotton

Cotton has been the pride and prime of the Indian Textile Industry. It has been the major competitive strength of the country with India’s T&A exports being dominated by cotton. Cotton has been the mainstay for not only more than 65 lakh cotton farmers, but also to the value-added textile industry which employs directly & indirectly more than 10 crore people (making it the largest industrial employer)

India got 1st place in the world in cotton acreage with 114.47 lakh hectares area under cotton cultivation i.e. around 36% of world area of 314.79 lakh hectares. Approximately 67% of Indian’s cotton is produced on rain-fed areas and 33% on irrigated lands.

In terms of cotton yield, India lacks behind a lot as compared to other cotton producing nations. While countries like China, Brazil, Australia, and Turkey have cotton yields of above 1800 kg lint/ha, India’s yield on the other hand stands at about 437 kg lint/ha which is even far lesser than the world’s average yield of about 776 kg lint/ha.

For cotton season 2024-25, India’s cotton production is estimated to be around 294.5 lakh bales of 170 kg each which is about 9.5% lower than the production of 2023-24. Consumption of cotton is estimated to be 318 lakh bales in 2024-25 against 323 lakh bales in 2023-24 as shown in table 1.

Table 1: Cotton Balance Sheet of India (In Lakh Bales)

Particular	2015/ 16	2016/ 17	2017/ 18	2018/ 19	2019/ 20	2020/ 21	2021/ 22	2022/ 23	2023/24 (P)	2024/25 (P)
Opening Stock	66.0	36.4	43.8	42.9	56.5	120.8	71.8	39.48	61.16	47.1
Production	332	345	370.0	333.0	365.0	352.5	311.2	336.60	325.22	294.5
Imports	22.8	30.9	15.8	35.4	15.5	11.0	21.1	14.60	15.20	25
Total Supply	420.8	412.4	429.6	411.3	437.0	484.3	404.1	390.68	401.58	366.35
Consumption	315.3	310.4	319.1	311.2	269.2	334.9	322.4	313.6	326.12	318
Exports	69.1	58.2	67.6	43.6	47.0	77.6	42.25	15.89	28.36	18
Total Demand	384.4	368.6	386.7	354.8	316.2	412.5	364.66	329.52	354.48	336
Closing Stock	36.4	43.8	42.9	56.5	120.8	71.8	39.48	61.16	47.10	30.35

Source: As estimated by the Committee on Cotton Production and Consumption (COCPC).

Table 2: Cotton Acreage and Yield in last few years

Cotton Year	Cotton Acreage (Lakh Hectares)	Cotton Yield (Lint in Kg/ha)
2018-19	126.14	449
2019-20	134.77	460
2020-21	132.85	451
2021-22	123.71	428
2022-23	129.27	443
2023-24	126.80	436
2024-25	114.47	437

Source: Ministry of Textiles

Table 3: MSP fixed by Ministry of Agriculture during last few years

Cotton Year	Medium Staple (Staple Length 24.5 to 25.5 mm & microware value 4.3 to 5.1)	Long Staple (Staple Length 29.5 to 30.5 mm & microware value 3.5 to 4.3)
2018-19	5150	5450
2019-20	5255	5550
2020-21	5515	5825
2021-22	5726	6025
2022-23	6080	6380
2023-24	6620	7020
2024-25	7121	7521
2025-26	7710	8110

Table 4: Procurement of Cotton Under MSP

Cotton Year	Production (Lakh Bales)	Procurement under MSP Operations
Qty. in Lakh Bales	%age of Production
2018-19	333.00	10.78	03.24
2019-20	365.00	124.61	34.14
2020-21	352.48	99.33	28.18
2021-22	311.17	00.01	–
2022-23	336.60	–	–
2023-24	325.22	32.84*	10.1
2024-25*	294.25	100.16	34.04

In 2021-22 & 2022-23, cotton prices were ruling above MSP. Hence, no MSP support was required by farmers

Man-Made Fiber & Filament Yarn

Globally, fiber consumption is predominated by manmade fibers (MMFs) having about 70% share in total fiber consumption while natural fibers constitute only about 30%. Contrary to the global trend, fiber consumption in India is skewed towards natural fibers, especially cotton.

As far as India’s production of man-made fiber is considered, during 2023-24, India’s production of man-made fiber stood at about 1987 Mn kgs which was about 8.3% lower compared to the 2022-23 as shown in table:

Table 5: Production of Man-Made Fiber (million Kg)

Particular	FY 20	FY 21	FY 22	FY 23	2023-24 (P)	2024-25 (Apr-Sept) (P)	2023-24 (Apr-Sept) (P)	% Change FY 25 over FY 24 for Apr-Sept
Production	1,898	1,610	2,160	2,152	1,987	1,021	989	3.26

Source: Ministry of Textiles

Similarly, production of manmade filament yarn during 2023-24 stood at about 1,702 Mn kg which was about 11.8% lower compared to the 2022-23 as shown in table below:

Table 6: Production of Man-Made Filament Yarn (Mn Kg)

Particular	FY 20	FY 21	FY 22	FY 23	2023-24 (P)	2024-25 (Apr-Sept) (P)	2023-24 (Apr-Sept) (P)	% Change FY 25 over FY 24 for Apr-Sept
Production	1,688	1,326	2,016	1,904	1,702	904	844	7.20

Source: Ministry of Textiles

During 2023-24, cotton yarn accounted to about 68.5% of the total yarn production in India while Blended and 100% Non-Cotton accounted to rest 31.5% of the production. During 2023-24, the production of total spun yarn increased by about 5.7% compared to the previous year. This growth was majorly due to the significant recovery in the production of cotton yarn which increased by about 9.3% in 2023-23 compared to 2022-23 as shown in the table below:

Table 7: Production of Spun Yarn (Mn Kg)

Particular	FY 20	FY 21	FY 22	FY 23	2023-24 (P)	2024-25 (Apr-Sept) (P)	2023-24 (Apr-Sept) (P)	% Change FY 25 over FY 24 for Apr-Sept
Cotton Yarn	3,962	3,625	4,075	3,438	3,756	1,868	1,889	-1.15
Blended and 100% non-Cotton	1,702	1,521	1,758	1,746	1,725	884	868	1.91
Total Spun Yarn	5,664	5,146	5,833	5,184	5,481	2,752	2,757	-0.19

Source: Ministry of Textiles

Fabric

Table 8: Production of Fabric (mn sq. m)

Particular	FY 16	FY 17	FY 18	FY 19	FY 20	FY 21 (Apr-Jan)	FY 22 (Apr-Jan)	% Change FY 22 over FY 21
Mill Sector	2,315	2,264	2,157	2,078	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Decentralized Sector	62,269	61,216	64,688	67,992	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total (Excl. Khadi, Wool & Silk)	64,584	63,480	66,845	70,070	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Source: Office of Textile Commissioner

N/A: Not Available