The South India Textile Manufacturers' Association has appealed to the Central and State governments to come up with concrete measures to control the prices of cotton yarn.
Though the Central government claimed that it had taken efforts, the cotton yarn prices continued to increase in the domestic market, putting the textile and weaving industries under severe stress, association president M.S. Mathivanan said in a statement.
A majority of the spinning mills were giving importance for the export of yarn and holding it as stock anticipating further increase in the yarn prices, he alleged.
The continuous increase in the prices would lead to the closure of many small and medium weaving and knitting units in the country. This would render lakhs of people job-less. The Central and State governments should take a serious look into the issue and ensure adequate supply of cotton yarn to the domestic industries at affordable rates, he said.
The association also wanted the Central government to bring cotton yarn under the Essential Commodities Act in order to control the prices.
Meanwhile, the government, stating that there was a surplus in cotton, had permitted the export of raw cotton from November 1.
But the statistics presented by the government, which stated that there was a surplus of cotton, did not include the cotton consumption by the small spinning mills, Mr. Mathivanan pointed out.
Cotton farmers in the country were not the ultimate beneficiaries due to the increase in the prices and the export.
The benefits were going to the middlemen and the traders of cotton. The farmers were given only the minimum support price for their produce, he said.
