The Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. (CCI), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Textiles, today presented a dividend cheque of ₹8.89 crore for the financial year 2024–25 to the Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Giriraj Singh, at a ceremonial function held in New Delhi, in the august presence of the Secretary, Textiles, Smt. Neelam Shami Rao and Joint Secretary, Textiles, Smt.Padmini Singla. Shri Lalit Kumar Gupta, CMD, CCI handed over the cheque.

The Union Minister of Textiles appreciated CCI’s consistent efforts and emphasized the importance of growth, efficiency, transparency, and innovation in strengthening India’s cotton and textile value chain. He underscored CCI’s pivotal role in ensuring remunerative prices to cotton farmers under MSP operations while maintaining equilibrium in the domestic cotton market.

Reviewing the initiatives undertaken during the year, the Secretary, Textiles commended the management and employees of CCI for their dedication and performance and reaffirmed the Ministry’s continued support in achieving future milestones and enhancing the global competitiveness of India’s textile sector.

The Secretary, Textiles further highlighted CCI’s backbone role in scaling certified cotton in India. Nearly 97% of certified Kasturi Cotton Bharat—1.51 lakh bales out of 1.58 lakh bales—was produced by CCI, reinforcing quality assurance, traceability, and India’s growing presence in premium global cotton markets.

During FY 2024–25, CCI achieved a turnover of ₹20,009 crore, marking one of the highest turnovers in the history of the Corporation. The dividend declaration reflects CCI’s strong financial performance, operational efficiency, and its sustained contribution to the Government of India, while fulfilling its mandate of safeguarding farmers’ interests and ensuring market stability.

Strengthening MSP Procurement and Farmer Outreach

To ensure wider and more effective outreach under MSP operations, CCI expanded its procurement infrastructure by opening 571 procurement centres across 150 cotton-growing districts, compared to 508 centres in the previous season. The liberalised norms for opening procurement centres have significantly improved last-mile access, particularly for small and marginal farmers, while reducing transportation costs and waiting time.

Farmer empowerment remained at the core of the Central Government under MSP operations through the Kapas Kisan Mobile App, with over 46 lakh farmers registered. The app has transformed MSP procurement into a transparent, paperless, and farmer-centric system, enabling self-registration, advance slot booking, Aadhaar-linked payments, and real-time SMS alerts at every stage—from registration and procurement to bill generation and payment.

Procurement operations were being monitored through Local Monitoring Committees (LMCs)at each APMC, supported by dedicated helplines and WhatsApp numbers for prompt grievance redressal. Extensive awareness campaigns through print, radio, social media, and local-language outreach have further ensured informed and inclusive farmer participation.

Digital Transformation and Traceability

CCI has achieved100% traceability of cotton bales through its Blockchain-based Bale Identification and Traceability System (BITS), enabling end-to-end tracking from procurement to processing using QR codes.

On the buyer side, CCI enhanced Ease of Doing Business through CotBiz, its online Cotton Seed and Bale Billing System. CotBiz facilitates faceless, paperless e-auctions, supported by real-time dashboards, digital contracts, invoices, and gate passes, fully integrated with CCI’s ERP system.

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