The Textile Ministry is looking to introduce a revamped Technology Mission on Cotton said Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta. The mission will have four parts. The first two will deal with cotton productivity and will come under the Agriculture Ministry. The third and fourth missions will be under the Textile Ministry. This initiative is to give a thrust to the cotton sector.

Ms Gupta said that the office of the Textile Commissioner would send a draft on the revamped project to the Textile Ministry in a couple of months. They have had a series of meetings with stakeholders and researchers.

Ms. Gupta added that apart from this, in order to get a clear picture on production and capacity of various segments in the textile value chain, the Ministry has now made annual and monthly filing of data mandatory.

All units from ginning to garmenting will have to file data on quality and quantity. Till October, this can be done manually or online and from October it can be done only online.

The annual data will give the profile of the unit and the monthly information will give a clear picture on production of various textile products. This is filed by the industry and for its benefit. It will help the Government come out with the right policy interventions.

The system is simplified for the MSMEs and for the very small units, a survey will be done.

A Technology Mission on Cotton was implemented by the Union Government from 2000 to 2012 and it had four “mini missions.” India is now the largest producer of cotton globally.

According to J. Thulasidharan, president of Indian Cotton Federation, there is a need for a revamped Technology Mission on Cotton as the country needs to adopt global standards and focus on quality.