Government agencies have commenced cotton procurement in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra State Co-Operative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation (MSCCGMF) has said it has procured around 39641 quintals so far this season.

At the beginning of season, the federation had said that it was ready to procure up to 100 lakh quintals as against the 27 lakh quintals it had purchased last season.

Around 34732 quintals of cotton has been procured from Nagpur and 4929 quintals from Aurangabad, said NP Hirani, chairman of the federation.

Another 33,000 quintals has been procured by traders, he said.

Out of 64 purchase centres opened in the state by the agency, 25 centres are in Nagpur and 29 in Aurangabad.

For long staple cotton, the government has fixed the MSP at Rs 4,100 per quintal and medium staple at Rs 3,800 per quintal for the 2015-16 marketing year.

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) plans to open over 300 centres across the country and will procure mainly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and partially in Maharashtra.