Cotton import may rise 80% this year due to drought in major growing states

Quality of output is another nagging issue, as the raw cotton produced this year cannot be used by spinning mills

India's cotton imports are likely to rise by 80 per cent this crop year (October 2018 to September 2019), due to short supply of quality material for textile mills.

Data compiled by apex industry body, Cotton Association of India (CAI), forecasts raw cotton import at 2.7 million bales (one bale equals 170 kg) for the season, compared to 1.5 million the previous year. Another industry body, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), has estimated total import at 2.4 million bales.

With an estimated 32.1 million bales of output, revised downward by CAI in April from its previous one of 32.8 million, India