Coimbatore-based Indian Cotton Federation (ICF) and Punjab-based Indian Cotton Association Ltd (ICAL) will jointly host the 6th Bi-Annual All India Cotton Conference in the city on August 9th and 10th.
Thulasidaran, President of ICF chaired a press conference on Wednesday to convey that the event the stakeholders of textile industry, particularly those who deal with cotton including including Ginners, Traders, Brokers, Mills etc. from all-over India will come together to speak about the various challenges their sector is facing.
“All issues related to cotton will be discussed at the conference. Experts from various cotton-related sector including reputed industry leaders, office bearers from various associations and research organizations will speak about the national and global scenario of cotton, the changing trends, expectations from the markets like emphasis on cotton traceability, environmental-aspects, sustainability etc will all be discussed,” Thulasidaran said.
Nearly 400 delegates across India and also from Egypt, Malaysia and other foreign countries are expected to attend the event that will be held at The Residency Towers. The participants are expected to discuss and compile conclusions to solicit necessary government policy initiatives both from State and Central level.
Speaking about the cotton scenario in India, Thulasidaran said that the price of cotton in India is high, and due to this the exports have been much affected in the recent times.
30% of textile sector exports have been affected due to various reasons. One of the reason is we have low cotton yield. Another cause is the holding of cotton by few stakeholders as they aim to sell them when the hiked-MSP rates come into effect in the market.
Rival exporters such as Vietnam and Bangladesh send their product to Europe like us but they incur lesser taxes when compared to what we pay. The labour charge in Bangladesh is also cheaper. If the tax levied on import of raw materials is reduced, we can expect to be more competitive in the textile export sector. The current scenario in Bangladesh is expected to give a boost to Tiruppur exporters. The festival season demand too may give a boost to the sector.
A press release stated that Roop Rashi, Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India will be the Chief Guest of the inauguration of the cotton conference while Selvendaran IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Madhya Pradesh will be the Guest of Honor.
At the event, K.G.Baalakrishnan, Chairman, KG Group and Mr.S.Manivannan, CMD, LS Mills Ltd. will be honored with the Life Time Achievement Award while the Business Leader Award will be presented to Atul P Asher, Partner at RS Asher & Co; Ashok D Daga, Partner at Damji Velji & Co and Gopal Bhuradia.