HYDERABAD: Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Chairman Pradeep Kumar Agarwal on Tuesday assured Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy that the CCI would purchase the entire cotton produced in Telangana by paying Minimum Support Price (MSP) of `5,825 per quintal. The CCI Chairman gave the assurance when the Minister met him in Mumbai during his four-day visit to Maharastra. During the meeting, Niranjan Reddy requested the CCI Chairman to relax the norms, especially regarding the moisture content, while purchasing the cotton.
Considering that recent heavy rains have resulted in increase in moisture content, the Minister requested the CCI to also purchase cotton with more than 12 per cent moisture content. “In 2019-20, out of 49.56 lakh bales of cotton stored in godowns across the State, the CCI lifted only 9.28 lakh bales. Cotton needs to be removed from these godowns to create enough space to store new cotton stocks purchased this year,” the Minister said.
Cotton research centre
Stating that Telangana accounted for 40 per cent of total cotton purchased by the CCI last year, the Minister requested the CCI Chairman to set up a cotton research centre in Adilabad and also to bring all activities of the cotton crop under the Ministry of Textiles. Later, Niranjan Reddy called on National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Chairman Govinda Rajulu Chintala and discussed various issues related to the State.