Tirupur Garment Industry Urges Centre to Scrap Cotton Import Duty
By jayesh chouhan 2026-05-14 11:52:50
Garment Exporters and Manufacturers from Tirupur Demand Removal of Import Duty on Cotton
A delegation of garment manufacturers and exporters from Tirupur met with the Union Textiles, Agriculture, and Commerce Ministers in New Delhi on Wednesday to demand the removal of the current 11% import duty on cotton.
A. Sakthivel, Chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, led the delegation. The delegation met with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh, as well as Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan.
The delegation highlighted the challenges faced by the apparel and textile industry due to high cotton prices and rising input costs. India has recently signed several free trade agreements (FTAs), creating significant opportunities for increased textile and apparel exports. However, while other apparel exporting countries are able to obtain cotton at internationally competitive prices, Indian manufacturers face high raw material prices due to the current import duty structure.
Reduction in import duty on cotton is essential to help the Indian apparel industry gain more trade opportunities from FTA partner countries and enhance India's competitiveness in the global market.
The textile industry's cotton requirement for the current year is estimated to be approximately 337 lakh bales, while cotton arrivals for the 2025-2026 season are projected to be only 292.15 lakh bales, resulting in a demand-supply gap of approximately 45 lakh bales. The delegation informed the ministers that this shortage is expected to increase pressure on spinning mills and the downstream textile industry due to rising input costs and limited availability of quality raw materials.
