The Apparel Export Promotion Council, on behalf of Tiruppur textile cluster has urged the Union government to reduce cotton import duty from 11 per cent to zero, warning that a widening domestic supply gap could hurt India’s textile exports and employment generation.
On Wednesday, a team of stakeholders from the Tiruppur knitwear cluster, along with the council’s Chairman A Sakthivel and TEA President KM Subramanian met Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh and urged them to reduce the import duty on cotton.
The delegation stated that a reduction in import duty on cotton was essential to help the Indian apparel industry secure greater business opportunities from Free Trade Agreement partner countries and enhance India’s competitiveness in the global market.
The industry representatives highlighted that neighbouring competing countries enjoy better access to competitively priced raw materials, enabling them to offer more competitive pricing in international markets.
The Tiruppur knitwear cluster accounts for nearly 68 per cent of India’s knitwear exports.
The Council said the textile industry’s cotton requirement in 2025-26 was at around 337 lakh bales, while cotton arrivals were estimated at only 292.15 lakh bales, creating a shortfall of nearly 45 lakh bales. The shortage has increased pressure on spinning mills and downstream textile units due to limited availability of quality cotton and rising input costs, the Council said.
The Tiruppur cluster recorded knitwear exports of more than ₹44,747 crore in FY25 and domestic business of around ₹2.3 lakh crore. The ecosystem includes around 2,500 exporters, 2,000 domestic players and over 20,000 standalone units spanning the entire textile value chain from fibre to garments.
Industry representatives said India’s recent Free Trade Agreements are expected to create fresh export opportunities for textile and apparel manufacturers, but sustained raw material shortages could weaken competitiveness in global markets. They argued that duty-free cotton imports would help the industry meet rising export commitments and take advantage of new trade agreements.
The industry also maintained that reducing cotton import duty would not adversely affect farmers because domestic cotton demand remains strong and the Minimum Support Price mechanism continues to protect growers. It noted that textile mills do not procure cotton below MSP levels.
The association said lowering import duty would help safeguard employment, support the textile value chain and strengthen India’s position in global apparel exports.
Published on May 14, 2026