The Central government has announced to temporarily exempt all customs duties on import of cotton from 1st June, 2026 till 31st October, 2026 with an aim to reduce input costs across the textile and apparel sector. The Ministry of Finance has said that the move will provide a targeted relief to manufacturers and consumers, while also keeping the interests of domestic farmers in mind.
“To augment availability of cotton for the Indian textile sector, the Central Government has temporarily exempted all customs duties on import of cotton from 1st June, 2026 till 31st October, 2026. The temporary duty exemption is expected to reduce input costs across the textile and apparel sector, thereby providing a targeted relief to manufacturers and consumers, while also keeping the interests of domestic farmers in mind,” said Ministry of Finance in a circular.
Meanwhile, in May this year, the Modi government approved Rs 5659.22 crore for Mission for Cotton Productivity (2026–27 to 2030–31) to address bottlenecks, declining growth, and quality concerns in India’s cotton sector.
The mission aligns with the 5F vision –Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign — of the Indin government, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare had said.
The Mission focuses on enhancing cotton productivity through development of High yielding variety (HYV) seeds resistant to disease and pests, scaling up of existing and latest crop production technologies through states governments, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) through large-scale promotion and adoption of latest crop production technologies, ensures least contaminant cotton supply to industry, and promote high-quality cotton exports.
The Mission will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Textiles, involving 10 institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), one institute of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and 10 centres of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRPs) on Cotton operating in different State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) of major cotton growing states.
Under the mission, initially, 140 districts will be focussed in 14 States through State Department of Agriculture and ICAR for upscaling the technologies and 2000 ginning/ processing factories. Development of high-yielding climate resistant and pest-resistant seeds, deploy modern farming technologies, farmer training, quality improvement, traceability, and strengthening infrastructure by promoting sustainable fibres and innovation across the cotton value chain.
