Cotton corporation of Indian along with Textile industry and exporters will get together to ensure that the cotton farmers of India get their due in the world markets, said Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Commerce & Industry while participating in the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Limited and TEXPROCIL on Branding, Traceability and Certification of “Kasturi Cotton India” in Varanasi today.

Interacting with media persons on the concluding day of Kashi Tamil Samagam in Varanasi, Textile Minister Shri Goyal said that this collaboration will benefit cotton farmers who will get the actual value of their produce due to brand building and quality assurance.

Shri Goyal also announced the creation of an advisory group on ‘Man-Made Fibre’ on the lines of Cotton Group. Pointing out PM’s vision of ‘whole government approach’ and ‘collective stakeholder consultation’, he said that these efforts will go a long way towards strengthening the Textile Sector.

Elaborating on the terms of MoU signed today, Shri Goyal said that it will encourage the Industry to work on the principle of self-regulation by owning complete responsibility of Traceability, Certification and Branding of Indian cotton, Ministry of Textiles. Government of India will contribute equal share of Rs.15 crores over a period of three cotton seasons starting from 2022-23 to 2024-25, he added.

This mechanism will provide complete traceability of Cotton from the origin farm level, QR Code based Certification technology to validate “KASTURI Cotton India” at each stage and will Promote “KASTURI Cotton India” as a premium brand by enhancing international perception & valuation of Indian Cotton. This will make Indian cotton as a reliable quality product, both in the domestic and global markets thereby facilitating premium pricing.

The MoU signed will address on Traceability, Certification, Branding with the objective to map the entire cotton value chain in the following aspects:

Traceability: Provide traceability of Cotton from the farm level, Provide origin information that the cotton is of Indian origin, Provide complete traceability through Block Chain based software platform and Integrate existing and available trace technologies like Geo Tagging & DNA based standards to provide end to end tracing solutions.

Certification: Provide Registration & Transaction Certificate using QR Code based technology to validate “KASTURI Cotton India” at each stage, Enable Brands to trace & validate the use of “KASTURI Cotton India” in the supply chain and Certification will be based on the test parameters protocol approved by the Apex Committee.

Branding: Promote “KASTURI Cotton India” as a premium brand by enhancing international perception & valuation of Indian Cotton, Position “KASTURI Cotton India” as a reliable quality product, both in the domestic and global markets thereby facilitating premium pricing and providing a unique brand identity to “KASTURI Cotton India” by highlighting its specifications-based benefits and thereby enhancing export opportunities.

Shri Goyal expressed satisfaction at the two-day event hosted by Textile Ministry in which over 250 delegates from industries and MSME sector participated. 75 participants were from Tamil Nadu. Maintaining that discussions with stakeholders on issues related to various ecosystems of Textile Sector during the event were promising, Shri Goyal said that the focus has been to implement PM’s vision of 5F-from Farm to Fibre to Fabric to Fashion to Foreign.

He added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India’s textile sector is progressing and becoming Aatma Nirbhar. He pointed out that the Free Trade Agreements being signed with several countries will give a big fillip to the exports in this sector. He said that FTA with Australia will become operational from 29th December 2022, while that of UAE is already done earlier this year.

Shri Goyal added that the blessings of Kashi will help the country achieve export target of USD 100 billion by 2030. He also announced that Ministry of Textiles is going to organize a unique, one of its kind exhibition, 'VIRAASAT' in New Delhi to celebrate 75 handwoven saris of India in New Delhi and invited everyone to witness it.

In order to attain the objective of building image of Indian cotton at Global level, making India Aatmanirbhar and vocal for local in the field of cotton, Ministry of Textiles had announced the “Kasturi Cotton India” Brand of cotton on the eve of World Cotton Day on 7th October 2020 by which Indian cotton was endowed with a brand and a logo that represents Whiteness, Softness, Purity, Lusture and Indianness.

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