After procuring 55 lakh bales of cotton at the support price, state-run Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has started liquidating its stock and sold 1,100 bales at a price higher than the market rate today.
The CCI today launched the auction process with initial offer of 5,100 bales in Telangana.
"We started selling cotton from today with a token offer of 5,100 bales. Of which, about 1,100 bales was sold at a rate of Rs 43,900 per bale," a senior CCI official told PTI.
The cotton was sold in Telangana. The sale price was about Rs 1,000-2000 per bale higher than the market rate, he added.
CCI plans to liquidate the entire stock on a daily basis via the auction process in Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and other states.
The CCI started the procurement operation at the support price from October 2014 as prices in domestic market had fallen below the minimum support price of Rs 4,050 per quintal in view of expected higher production.
CCI has procured 55 lakh bales in the ongoing 2014-15 marketing year (October-September), while its highest purchase was 90 lakh bales in 2008-09 marketing year.
The government's Cotton Advisory Board has pegged the country's total cotton production at over 40 million bales in 2014-15 marketing year as against 39.8 million bales in 2013-14.
