Policy Update
Shruti Chandra
Background
Cotton plays a significant role in India’s agricultural and industrial economy. The country ranks first in the world in terms of cotton cultivation area with 114.84 lakh hectares under cotton, which is nearly 38% of the global cotton area of 304.08 hectares.
India also has a unique advantage in cotton diversity, being the only country cultivating all four commercially recognised species of cotton: G. arboreum and G. herbaceum (Asian cotton), G. barbadense (Egyptian cotton) and G. hirsutum (American Upland cotton). G. hirsutum accounts for around 90% of hybrid cotton production in India and forms the genetic base of all current Bt cotton hybrids. Cotton production is concentrated across nine major cotton-growing states, spread across three distinct agro-ecological zones: the Northern Zone comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan; the Central Zone comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh; and the Southern Zone comprising Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In addition to these states, cotton is also grown in Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
This diverse cultivation base supports India’s position as the second-largest producer and consumer of cotton globally. During the 2024 – 25 cotton season, production stood at 297.24 lakh bales, nearly 20% of global cotton output. Domestic consumption during 2025 – 26 by MSMEs, non-MSMEs, non textile segments stood at 328 lakh bales (5.58 million bales). Additionally, India commands a strong presence in the global cotton trade. During the 2024-25 cotton season, India exported nearly 18 lakh bales, equivalent to 0.31 million metric tonnes, accounting for 3.37% of global cotton exports. In value terms, India’s cotton exports reached US$11.49 billion in FY 2024–25 (Ministry of Textiles). Given its economic significance, cotton is also popularly referred to as ‘White Gold’ in India.
The Government of India has undertaken several measures to strengthen the cotton sector, including the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism and procurement through the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), the Special Project on Cotton under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), the Mission for Cotton Productivity, and support for modernisation of ginning and processing infrastructure.
However, improvements in production and productivity alone do not ensure higher value realisation for Indian cotton. The sector also faces the need for stronger quality standardisation, contamination control, reliable testing and traceability, particularly for positioning Indian cotton as a premium product in global markets. Kasturi Cotton Bharat seeks to address these gaps through quality certification, traceability and branding of Indian cotton.
Functioning
Kasturi Cotton Bharat is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Textiles, trade bodies and the cotton industry, implemented through a self-regulatory framework. It was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 15 December 2022 between the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), on behalf of the Ministry of Textiles and the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL). The initiative has a total budgetary support of ₹30 crore, with ₹15 crore each contributed by the Ministry of Textiles and trade and industry bodies.
The initiative is structured around three components:
- Traceability: QR-based technology and blockchain-enabled systems provide end-to-end traceability and transaction certification across the supply chain. The system enables tracking of certified Kasturi Cotton Bharat lint cotton bales from processing onwards.
- Certification: Certification is based on prescribed quality standards for Kasturi cotton. Authorised ginners and processing units can produce certified Kasturi Cotton Bharat bales after meeting the prescribed quality and processing protocols.
- Branding: The branding component seeks to establish Kasturi Cotton Bharat as a high-quality and competitively priced Indian cotton brand in domestic and international markets, strengthening its market identity and recognition.
Performance
The programme has established a growing certified supply base, with 1,58,500 cotton bales certified as Kasturi Cotton Bharat as of 31 October 2025, of which 1,51,700 bales were certified by CCI. The certification network has also expanded to 132 registered units, comprising 51 ginners and 81 supply-chain members, enabling ginners across the country to produce certified bales under a defined protocol. Quality assurance has been strengthened through NABL-accredited sampling and testing, covering cotton from long-staple (28 mm+) to extra-long-staple (35 mm+) categories. On the traceability front, QR-based certification and blockchain technology have been deployed to facilitate real-time tracking and transaction certification of Kasturi-tagged bales.
The programme has further expanded its market outreach through textile events, domestic and international trade magazines and websites, and engagement with retailers, brands, spinning mills and exporters. Partnerships and market linkages with entities such as Reliance Retail, Westside, Arvind, Aditya Birla, Shahi Exports, Gokaldas Exports, Welspun, Indo Count and Vardhaman Group are being pursued to create demand for certified cotton. In addition, collaborations with RegenAgri and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) are being used to develop RegenAgri-Kasturi and BCI-Kasturi cotton, linking the brand with sustainable cotton production.
Impact
- Potential for better price realisation for farmers: According to the Ministry of Textiles, the cotton sector sustains the livelihoods of an estimated 6 million cotton farmers. By improving the quality recognition, traceability and branding of Indian cotton, Kasturi Cotton Bharat can enhance its market value and create scope for quality-linked price differentiation and better returns to cotton producers. However, evidence of direct farmer-level price gains attributable to Kasturi Cotton Bharat remains limited, making this an intended impact rather than a demonstrated outcome at present.
- Market outreach: The Kasturi Cotton Bharat portal highlights its efforts to expand global market access. Recently, in collaboration with Amazon Global Selling, it conducted a session with the Karur Textile Manufacturer Exporters’ Association (KTMEA) to help Indian home-textile exporters leverage global e-commerce platforms and promote Kasturi Cotton as a traceable, premium Indian cotton brand. Such global e-commerce exposure can help expand demand and strengthen recognition of the Kasturi Cotton brand among international buyers.
- Complements productivity-focused agricultural interventions: Kasturi addresses the value-realisation side of cotton farming, complementing the Mission for Cotton Productivity, which targets an increase in lint productivity from 440 kg/ha to 755 kg/ha and cotton production from about 297 lakh bales to 498 lakh bales by 2031. Thus, higher farm productivity can be accompanied by better identification and valuation of the resulting cotton.
- Textile industry linkages: Kasturi Cotton Bharat is promoting linkages between certified Indian cotton and the textile industry. Ahead of Bharat Tex 2025, it invited manufacturers and designers to showcase collections using Kasturi Cotton across home textiles, garments and premium segments, strengthening connections with international brands and buying houses.
- Incentivises better post-harvest practices: Certification based on defined quality standards and testing creates an economic incentive for better harvesting, handling, ginning and contamination control. This is particularly relevant because Kasturi certification covers processed lint cotton bales and uses accredited testing agencies. The initiative therefore extends quality improvement beyond the farm to the post-harvest stage, where cotton quality can otherwise deteriorate.
- Supports sustainability in cotton agriculture: The development of RegenAgri-Kasturi and BCI-Kasturi links the Kasturi brand with sustainability certification thereby encouraging adoption of resource-efficient practices.
Emerging Issues
- Limited scale of certified cotton: Against India’s annual cotton production of around 300 lakh bales, the number of Kasturi-certified bales remains relatively small. This limits the scheme’s ability to influence the broader cotton market and establish Kasturi as a widely recognised Indian cotton standard.
- Fragmented cotton supply chain: India’s cotton production involves millions of farmers, numerous ginners, traders, spinning mills and other intermediaries. Such fragmentation makes uniform quality, contamination control and end-to-end traceability difficult to maintain across the supply chain.
- Limited transmission of quality premium to farmers: Kasturi creates quality differentiation mainly at the lint/bale stage, while farmers sell kapas before ginning. Ensuring that the higher value attached to certified cotton is transmitted upstream to farmers remains a key challenge.
- High cost of quality compliance for ginners: NABL-accredited testing, prescribed ginning protocols, contamination control and traceability require additional compliance and infrastructure. This may limit participation among smaller ginning units, particularly in fragmented cotton-producing regions.
- Competing Demands on India’s Cotton Sector: Despite India being a major cotton producer and exporter, textile manufacturers have recently reported inadequate domestic cotton availability and higher raw-material costs. In response, the Government exempted cotton imports from Basic Customs Duty and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) from 1 June to 31 October 2026 to improve domestic availability and support the textile industry. This brings out a structural tension in India’s cotton economy: while greater cotton exports can expand the market for Indian cotton, insufficient domestic availability can raise input costs for the textile industry that converts cotton into higher-value products. For an initiative such as Kasturi, which seeks to enhance the value and market positioning of Indian cotton, the larger challenge is therefore to ensure that value addition does not remain confined to cotton exports but also feeds into India’s domestic textile manufacturing ecosystem.
- Climate Vulnerability: Around 66-67% of cotton cultivation is rainfed. While cotton does not require excessive rainfall, lower and erratic rainfall can favour pink bollworm (PBW) infestation, potentially reducing crop yields.
Way Forward
- More certified units: Increase registration of private ginners and supply-chain units to expand the availability of Kasturi-certified cotton beyond CCI-certified production.
- Farm-level traceability: Link the existing QR and blockchain system with farmer-level procurement records to establish the origin of certified cotton, strengthening transparency and traceability from farm to fibre.
- Publish price premiums: Track and publish the average transaction price of Kasturi cotton vis-à-vis comparable non-certified cotton to assess whether certification is delivering additional value, providing evidence of the commercial benefits of certification and informing future policy design.
- Lower certification costs: Expand access to NABL-accredited testing facilities and provide technical assistance to smaller ginners to reduce the compliance burden.
- Scale sustainable variants: Expand RegenAgri-Kasturi and BCI-Kasturi through wider farmer and buyer participation, linking sustainable cotton with established certification and procurement channels.
- Monitor domestic supply: Use regular data on cotton production, stocks, exports and mill consumption to better calibrate export and import decisions during periods of domestic supply tightness.
Conclusion
As India moves towards higher-value commercial crops and greater value addition in agriculture, the quality and value of its cotton will remain important. While the Government of India is pursuing the ambitious 5F vision of Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion and Foreign for the broader textile sector, equal attention to the farm-to-fibre segment is essential to make this vision effective across the value chain. In this context, strengthening Kasturi Cotton Bharat can help establish Indian cotton as a quality-assured and traceable fibre, creating a stronger foundation for India’s integration into global value chains and its journey towards Viksit Bharat @2047.
References
Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. (n.d.). Cotton db767d1d1501e27672906cd8c320c5f4.pdf https://share.google/TiyJ7wk9ApcU3ab6F
Press Information Bureau. (20 July 2026). White gold: India’s cotton story. Government of India https://share.google/SPR3pss0Y3yBNxwAD
India Brand Equity Foundation. (2026, July). Cotton industry and exports https://share.google/NTDTwSQWaVR0ijxqb
Press Information Bureau. (2024, August 6). Ministry of Textiles empowers ginners to produce Kasturi Cotton Bharat brand. Government of India. https://share.google/vaDNASyUOSNZkVSAB
Kasturi Cotton Bharat. Read daily news and updates on Kasturi Cotton. https://share.google/JZKbs2ja1VeQtmxUo
Kasturi Cotton Bharat. (2024, December 2). Kasturi Cotton invites industry to show collections at Bharat Tex 2025 https://share.google/YVLtCqmH5oQlgT5GQ
Cotton Corporation of India Limited https://share.google/wGY47GOPAZRUKo2Rm
About the contributor
Shruti Chandra is a Research & Editorial Intern at IMPRI. She holds a B.A. (Hons.) degree in Sociology from the University of Delhi and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Sociology. Her areas of interest include social and environmental justice, gender studies, governance and public policy.
Acknowledgement
Sincere gratitude is extended to the IMPRI team for their guidance and support and to the reviewers Ninchen Tamang & Kaustav Majumdar for their valuable feedback.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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