Question : Non-Availability of Cotton Bales

(a) whether it is fact that the main reason for the tough situation in Textile sector is the non-availability of adequate cotton bales and their higher production cost;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to solve this issue;

(c) whether only a small number of textile companies could afford to withstand the pressures of various issues faced by the Textile sector in the country;

(d) if so, the details thereof and the remedial measures taken by the Union Government to support and develop sick companies in various textile clusters in the country, particularly in Tamil Nadu; and

(e) the total amount allocated by the Union Government during the last three years, year and cluster-wise in Tamil Nadu?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES
(SHRI AJAY TAMTA)
(a) & (b): The assessment made by Cotton Advisory Board on cotton production, import, export and overall supply and demand position for the previous cotton season 2016-17 (October - September) and current cotton season 2017-18 (October-September) is as under:

(in lakh bales of 170 Kg each)
Particulars 2016-17 (P) * 2017-18 (P) *
SUPPLY
Opening Stock 36.44 47.81
Crop 345.00 377.00
Import 30.94 17.00
TOTAL SUPPLY 412.38 441.81
DEMAND
Mill Consumption 262.66 288.00
S.S.I Consumption 26.20 27.00
Non Textile Consumption 17.50 19.00
Export 58.21 67.00
TOTAL DEMAND 364.57 401.00
Closing Stock 47.81 40.81
P – Provisional

It could be seen from the above that sufficient cotton is available to meet the requirement of domestic textile industry. Regarding higher production cost in the textile industry, the information on cotton prices shows that on comparison to the previous year, average prices have decreased by 2.25 to 5.52 percent for the various cotton varieties.

(c) & (d): Government supports the industry to withstand the competition by way of various Schemes viz., Amended Technology Upgradation Fund, Technology Mission on Technical Textiles, Scheme for Integrated Textile Park, Integrated Skill Development Scheme, Scheme for Integrated Textile Processing Development, PowerTex India-Comprehensive Scheme for Powerloom Sector Development, Special package for Garment and Made-ups, Enhancing scope of Section 80JJAA of Income Tax Act, Rebate of State Levies Scheme, various export promotion schemes like Market Access Initiative Scheme, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) which enable them to become competitive by way of technology upgradation, market access etc.

(e): There is no State-wise allocation of funds under the schemes. However, the details of amounts released by the Union Government to Tamil Nadu under various textile sector schemes during the last three years and current year are enclosed at Annexure.