Protesting against the Centre's “sudden” move to ban cotton exports, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday demanded a “permanent freedom” for exporting hybrid varieties of cotton.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, he said the cotton farmers of Gujarat had suffered a loss of Rs 14,000 crore last year due to a similar ban on exports. Later, when the ban was lifted in the wake of fall in prices, the farmers suffered again.
Alleging a nexus between the Union Government, textile mills and cotton yarn manufacturers, Mr Modi said these mills and manufacturers have kept an inventory of only 27 lakh bales, instead of 52 lakh bales. An artificial scarcity has thus been created and the farmers have been paid a price less than even the minimum support price (MSP), at a time when international price of hybrid varieties of Gujarat has been higher.
The Chief Minister pointed out that India has produced 365 lakh bales of cotton this year. Gujarat is also expected to increase its production from 98 lakh bales last year to 116 lakh bales this year.