Fashion
Cotton productivity mission to strengthen India’s FTA exports: CITI
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) welcomed the Union Cabinet’s approval of the five-year mission, saying the decision would support India’s ambition of building a $350 billion textile and apparel industry by 2030.
India’s textile industry expects stronger gains from FTAs after approval of the $595 million cotton productivity mission to improve supply, quality, and competitiveness.
CITI said the move could boost exports and address low productivity challenges, helping the sector strengthen global positioning amid shifting sourcing trends and recent export pressures.
“This decision by the Union Cabinet will provide a huge boost to the textile and apparel sector as it seeks to become more globally competitive and emerge stronger to better leverage opportunities emerging from Free Trade Agreements (FTAs),” said Ashwin Chandran, Chairman of CITI in a press release.
The Mission for Cotton Productivity, announced earlier in the Union Budget for FY26, aims to improve cotton productivity and sustainability, promote Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton and ensure steady supply of quality raw material for the textile sector.
Chandran added, “CITI would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister and the Union Ministers of Agriculture, Finance, and Textiles, for this much-awaited measure.”
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the mission in her FY26 Budget speech, stating that the initiative would facilitate significant improvements in cotton farming productivity and sustainability while promoting extralong staple cotton varieties with scientific and technological support for farmers.
CITI said the mission could help address a long-standing structural challenge in India’s cotton sector. Although India is among the world’s largest cotton producers, its productivity remains lower than several competing countries, affecting export competitiveness of the domestic textile industry, where cotton remains the dominant raw material.
Last month, a textile and apparel industry delegation met Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to highlight challenges across the cotton value chain and seek government intervention.
The industry body noted that the textile and apparel sector remains India’s second-largest employer and a key contributor to exports and GDP. However, exports faced pressure in FY26 due to the 50 per cent US tariff imposed for more than five months during the previous financial year, along with geopolitical disruptions in West Asia.
India’s textile and apparel exports declined 2.2 per cent year-on-year to $35.79 billion in FY26, according to industry estimates.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)