Cotton Corporation opens sales depots in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab
04 Dec 2010
The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has opened sales depots for cotton at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and Ludhiana in Punjab after obtaining tentative approvals for tax concessions from the respective state governments.
CCI had opened sales depots in Coimbatore and Rajapalayam in Tamil Nadu in February 2010, exempting a levy of 4 per cent on sales at the depots, Panabaaka Lakshmi, minister of state for textiles, informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The 4 per cent VAT exemption at the new depots by the state governments is still subject to final approval, she said.
The textile ministry, the minister said, has assessed total production and consumption of cotton in the country before allowing export of cotton.
The cotton advisory board has estimated production of cotton in the country at 32.5 million bales and consumption at 26.6 million bales, she stated.
Cotton supply in India stood at 369 lakh bales, 335.50 lakh bales and 373.50 lakh bales, respectively, during the plan years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. Against this, total demand, including exports, for the years stood at 326 lakh bales, 264 lakh bales and 333 lakh bales, respectively, she added.