Ministry of Textiles celebrates ‘World Cotton Day’ 2025
09 October 2025: Union Minister of Textiles, Giriraj Singh and Union Minister of State for Textiles and External Affairs Pabitra Margherita attended the celebration of World Cotton Day 2025 at New Delhi. The event was jointly organized by Ministry of Textiles and Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) focusing on the theme “Cotton 2040: Technology, Climate & Competitiveness.”
While addressing the gathering, the Union Minister reiterated the Government’s commitment not only to achieving the USD 350 billion textile sector target by 2030, including USD 100 billion in exports, but also to moving towards carbon neutrality. He stressed that cotton is not merely a crop – it is the very soul of Indian agriculture, a reflection of the farmer’s sweat, resilience, and hope. He conveyed his wishes to cotton farmers on World Cotton Day as each thread of cotton carries the story of our farmers – of their hard work under the scorching sun, their prayers for rain, and their unwavering faith in the soil,”
Giriraj Singh stressed that this transformation can only happen when every stakeholder -from farmers to textile exporters – works as one family. Although India accounts for 40% of the world’s cotton area, productivity remains around 450 kg per hectare, much lower than 2,000 kgs per hectare in many other countries. The Mission for Cotton Productivity, under active consideration, aims to address this gap. He also said that the increase in Minimum Support Prices (MSP) over the last decade has demonstrated the Government’s commitment to the cause of farmer welfare.
In a heartfelt appeal, the Minister called upon all stakeholders – ginners, spinners, brands, and exporters – to connect emotionally with the farmers who make the cotton journey possible. Let us make Kasturi Cotton Bharat the pride of every Indian – a cotton that the world recognizes for its purity, quality, and sustainability, just as it does Egyptian Giza or American Supima.
During the opening session, Pabitra Margherita said India must strive to attain a leadership position in quality, sustainability, and ethical production. The Kasturi Cotton initiative has the potential to contribute immensely to the ‘5F’ (farm-fibre-factory-fashion-foreign) vision of the Government, he pointed out. He added that India and Russia could forge deeper ties in the textiles and apparel arena.
Ms. Neelam Shami Rao, Secretary Textiles in her address mentioned that World Cotton Day celebrates cotton’s enduring link with livelihoods, sustainability, and innovation. She highlighted that the cotton sector supports six million farmers and provides employment to over 45 million people across the value chain.
She urged all stakeholders to adopt a collaborative and technology-integrated approach to address the productivity challenges of the cotton sector. She also underlined the importance of sustainability certifications, quality assurance, and value addition to position Kasturi Cotton Bharat as a globally recognized symbol of purity, quality, and technological excellence.
Dr. M. Beena Development Commissioner (Handlooms) & Textile Commissioner reiterated that a focus on technology and innovation is the need of the hour and the Ministry of Textiles is continuously supporting the industry through schemes such as ATUFS, PM MITRA, NTTM etc.
Smt. Padmini Singla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, in her keynote address, emphasized that enhancing sustainability is paramount, and the Ministry has been encouraging a collaborative approach to address the challenges faced by the textile industry. She highlighted the inter-ministerial coordination in launching a holistic plan Mission for Cotton productivity aimed at increasing cotton production and yield, thereby enabling farmers to enhance their income.
This World Cotton Day 2025 celebration event also witnessed valuable insights from Lalit Kumar Gupta, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of CCI, on the Corporation’s contribution towards empowering cotton farmers of the country through various initiatives and digital transformation.
Ashwin Chandran, Chairman, CITI and Ravi Sam, Vice Chairman, TEXPROCIL focusing on the importance of cotton and textile industry in driving economic growth, employment generation, and providing livelihood to farmers, women empowerment.
The programme concluded with the signing of Commercial, Community and Council MoUs under the Kasturi Cotton Bharat initiative with renowned organizations like Nitin Spinners, Arvind Ltd, RSR International, All India Cotton FPO Association (AIFCA), Beetle Regen, Hohenstein, ICAR-CIRCOT and Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC).
