The Union Government has reconstituted the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB), which meets regularly to estimate cotton production, consumption, exports and imports in the country.
The reconstituted CAB will have a consultative committee that will give inputs to the board on the cotton scenario and a core group.
According to an official in the Union Ministry of Textiles, the members of the consultative committee of the reconstituted CAB will include representatives of the government and the stakeholders. Data finalisation, however, will be by a core group of inter-ministerial experts. The list of stakeholders for the consultative process has been increased, and will have members from the textile industry, cotton trade and ginners.
Thus, the government has separated the consultative and data finalisation processes with regard to cotton production, consumption and marketing. The reconstituted CAB will be effective for two years from January 1, 2013. “The CAB will continue to meet in the same way. We are going to take inputs from the stakeholders. When the data is received, it will be finalised by the core group,” the official said. Both the consultative committee and the CAB will be headed by the Textile Commissioner.
Chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association S. Dinakaran said the textile industry’s main requirement was stability in cotton prices. Any effort by the government should benefit the cotton farmers and the textile industry.
