Smriti Irani launches first-ever Brand & Logo for Indian Cotton on 2nd World Cotton Day

Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani yesterday launched 'Kasturi Cotton', the first-ever Brand and Logo for Indian Cotton on Second World Cotton Day through video conferencing. Now, India's premium cotton would be known as 'Kasturi Cotton' in the world cotton trade. The Kasturi Cotton brand will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianness.

Ministry of Textiles in a tweet said, "Hon'ble Minister of Textiles @smritiirani Ji launched the 1st ever Brand & Logo for Indian Cotton to be known as 'Kasturi Cotton' on the occasion of 2nd World Cotton Day, 2020. The Brand will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianness."

Speaking on this occasion, Ms Irani said, this is a much-awaited moment as the Indian Cotton has been endowed with a Brand and Logo. The Minister recounted the importance of cotton in the Indian economy. She said, cotton is one of the principal commercial crops of the country and it provides livelihood to about six million cotton farmers.

She said, India is the second-largest cotton producer and the largest consumer of cotton in the world. It produces about six million tonnes of cotton every year which is about 23 per cent of the world cotton. She said, India produces about 51 per cent of the total organic cotton production of the world, which demonstrates India's effort towards sustainability.

Ms Irani said that to ensure sustainability, integrity and end-to-end traceability of the organic products, a certification system based on comparable international standards verified through an internationally acceptable institutional system is required to be put in place. Accordingly, the Ministry of Textiles through APEDA under Ministry of Commerce and Industry has prescribed a certification system for organic Cotton which will be introduced in phases in the entire textile value chain. Similarly, prescribing a certification system for non-organic Cotton has also been taken up with APEDA so that usages of cotton can be suitably augmented.

Ms Irani also said that Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) made ever the highest Minimum Support Price (MSP) operation of cotton. She hoped that during the new cotton season, the procurement under MSP will be increased. She said, CCI has opened 430 procurement centres in all cotton-growing states and payments are being made digitally to farmers' account within 72 hours.

Further, leveraging the technology, a mobile app, "Cott-Ally" has been developed by CCI for providing latest news regarding weather condition, Crop situation and best farm practices. A discount of Rs.300/- per candy is being offered by CCI in its regular sale to MSME mills, Khadi and Village Industry, Cooperative sector mills to enhance their competitiveness and efficiency. It was also stated that cotton may be used across all dimension of Technical Textiles.