An inter-Ministerial meeting held on Monday decided not to allow any fresh registration for cotton exports.
However, it will allow shipments of two million more bales of cotton which has already been registered before an export ban was imposed on March 5, official sources told Business Line .
This two million will be above the 10 million bales that have been already physically shipped out, they said.
The Ministerial panel took into account the procurement being carried out by the Cotton Corporation of India and the domestic requirements.
The Commerce Ministry had imposed the export ban apprehending a shortfall in domestic supplies. The move to curb exports had evoked sharp criticism from various quarters.
Following the protests, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had intervened and directed the Group of Ministers consisting of Finance, Agriculture and Commerce ministers to “urgently review the decision.”
On March 12, the Centre formally withdrew the ban but it has suspended issuing new export registration certificates (RC) “until further orders”.
The official notification revoking the ban had said that contracts already registered with it so far, but not yet shipped, will be expeditiously scrutinised to ensure that their papers are in order and revalidated. An RC is valid for 30 days from the date of issue.
The Commerce Secretary, Dr Rahul Khullar, had said that the RCs issued during January and February were being scrutinised to find out whether there are any ‘fictitious' export transactions. Over 85 per cent of cotton exports go to China and there is evidence of stockpiling there, he said.