Under immense political pressure, the government today lifted the ban on cotton exports within days of imposing it to augment domestic supplies.
"The Central Government hereby withdraws the notification.. Dated March 5, 2012," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
"Issue of new RCs (registration certificates) stands suspended until further orders," it said, adding that even the RCs issued will have to be revalidated.
"All RCs would need to be submitted to DGFT for scrutiny and revalidation. Exports can be effected only after RCs are revalidated," the notification said. On March 5, DGFT that is under the Commerce Ministry, had imposed the ban.
After a meeting with a political delegation from Gujarat yesterday, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had said that the decision would be rolled back in the "interests" of farmers, industry and trade.
Immediately after the ban was imposed by DGFT, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had conveyed anguish to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the decision. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had also protested the move.
Before the ban was imposed, export contracts of about 120 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) were registered. Of that, 94 lakh bales had been shipped.
Early last week, the Textile Ministry had said the ban was imposed after taking into account the trend of domestic consumption and depletion of domestic availability.
"Almost 94 lakh bales (170 kg each) have already shipped out, against an estimated export surplus of 84 lakh bales," the ministry had said. It feared the exports could reach 100 lakh bales by mid-March with registration of export contracts touching 120 lakh bales so far.