Tamil Nadu CM C. Joseph Vijay urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abolish the 11 per cent cotton import duty, warning that soaring cotton and yarn prices are pushing the state’s textile and apparel industry into a deep crisis, threatening exports and lakhs of jobs.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately abolish the existing 11 per cent import duty on cotton, warning that the textile and apparel sector in the state was facing an unprecedented financial crisis due to soaring raw material prices.
In a detailed letter to the Prime Minister, Vijay stated that the rapid increase in cotton and yarn prices over the past two months had severely impacted garment manufacturers, exporters, spinning mills, and thousands of small and medium textile units across Tamil Nadu. He cautioned that the continued rise in production costs could eventually lead to factory shutdowns, job losses, and declining export competitiveness.
The Chief Minister highlighted that Tamil Nadu remains India’s largest textile and apparel exporting state and plays a crucial role in the national economy. According to him, the industry supports lakhs of direct and indirect jobs, especially among women employed in rural and semi-urban manufacturing hubs.
“The textile and apparel industry in Tamil Nadu is undergoing a severe crisis because of the unprecedented rise in cotton and yarn prices,” Vijay wrote in the letter.
He pointed out that cotton prices had jumped sharply from Rs 54,700 per candy to Rs 67,700 per candy within just two months, marking an increase of nearly 25 per cent. Yarn prices also recorded a significant rise during the same period, increasing from Rs 301 per kilogram to Rs 330 per kilogram.
According to Vijay, the ongoing price escalation has been caused by lower domestic cotton production and increased speculative trading activity in the market. The situation, he said, has disrupted the supply chain and placed immense pressure on textile manufacturers struggling to fulfil export commitments amid rising operational expenses.
The Chief Minister stressed that imports were now the only viable solution to ensure uninterrupted raw material supply for the textile industry. However, the current 11 per cent import duty on cotton has made overseas procurement expensive and commercially unfeasible for many manufacturers.
He argued that permitting duty-free cotton imports would help stabilise the market, improve raw material availability, and strengthen India’s textile export competitiveness in the global market.
“Permitting duty-free cotton imports will help the industry meet increasing export commitments and remain globally competitive,” Vijay said.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also emphasised the broader economic and social impact of the textile sector, describing it as one of the country’s largest employment generators after agriculture. He noted that lakhs of workers, including women and daily wage earners, depended on the industry for their livelihoods.
Vijay warned that continued pressure on textile manufacturers could trigger widespread unemployment and negatively affect the entire textile value chain, including spinning units, weaving centres, dyeing facilities, and garment exporters.
Calling for urgent intervention by the Union government, the Chief Minister urged the Centre to reduce the cotton import duty from 11 per cent to zero without delay. He maintained that the decision would not only protect jobs and stabilise prices but also enhance India’s standing in the highly competitive global textile market.
Industry observers believe the demand for duty-free cotton imports could intensify in the coming weeks if domestic cotton prices continue to rise. Several textile associations have already expressed concern over shrinking profit margins and weakening export competitiveness due to escalating input costs.
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The appeal from Tamil Nadu comes at a time when India’s textile exporters are attempting to secure larger international orders amid growing global demand. However, industry leaders warn that sustained increases in cotton and yarn prices may undermine the sector’s ability to compete with major textile-exporting countries.
