Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Goyal held third interactive meeting with the Textile Advisory Group (TAG) at VanijyaBhawan, New Delhi, on 07.11.2022 to review progress of initiatives for cotton value chain. Smt. Darshana V. Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, Smt. Rachna Shah, Secretary Textiles, Shri Suresh Kotak, Chairman, TAG, Senior Officials from related Ministries and cotton value chain stakeholders were present.
Goyal reviewed the actions initiated subsequent to the last interactive meeting held at New Delhi. A holistic plan for increasing cotton productivity was presented by ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research – (CICR), Nagpur for bringing improvement in cotton productivity through farmer awareness program, HDPS and global best farm practices. Goyal stressed that this is the high time for branding Indian cotton and create a loyality and a pull for the KASTURI branded products from consumers and is a welcome step towards AtmaNirbhar Bharat. Shri Goyal desired that the industry should be on the forefront and work on the principle of self regulation by owning the responsibility of branding and certifying Indian cotton KASTURI.
Further, Goyal pointed out that quality of Indian cotton fibre is paramount, therefore implementation of cotton bales quality control order under BIS act 2016 is a must for standardization of cotton bales in terms of technical quality parameters and identification of cotton bale traceability for the benefit of all stakeholders. Goyal appreciated the Action taken by Industry and its nominated body to work on Quality, Traceability and Branding of KASTURI Cotton. Government shall be supporting the initiative with funds matching to Industry Contribution.
