New draft legislation on cotton data

The government has framed a draft legislation that aims to set up a system to collect accurate data on cotton production and stock availability with various stakeholders of the industry. "We are finalising the draft Cotton Trade (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2012. The proposed law will help in drawing realistic cotton balance sheet," a senior textiles ministry official said. The new law has been drafted against the backdrop of differences in cotton output estimates made by the textiles ministry and agriculture ministry for this crop year.