(Image Source: KNN India)
The Ministry of Textiles is set to receive over Rs 1,100 crore from the Cotton Productivity Mission, roughly 22 percent of the total Rs 6,000 crore budget for the scheme. This allocation comes from a five-year plan announced in the Union Budget earlier this year, designed to fix India’s struggling cotton sector. The ministry’s money will go toward modernizing factories, improving lint quality, and strengthening the textile chain from farms to finished cloth. The funding is still waiting for final Cabinet approval, which has been delayed for nearly a year.
India’s cotton problem is real and getting worse. Production has fallen for three straight years, dropping to 29.22 million bales in 2025-26 from 32.52 million bales in 2023-24. The area under cotton cultivation has shrunk by 2 million hectares in four years. Cotton yields in India remain stuck below 5 quintals per hectare when the world average is 9 quintals and the United States gets 10 quintals per hectare. The government believes this new funding can reverse the decline and help India compete globally in textiles again.
How the Rs 6,000 Crore Mission Budget Gets Split
The Cotton Productivity Mission money is being divided among different government bodies based on their roles. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare gets the biggest chunk at over Rs 4,000 crore, which is about 69 percent of the total. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research gets less than Rs 600 crore, around 9 percent. The Ministry of Textiles gets Rs 1,100 crore to handle the textile side of things.
This split has caused some disagreement inside the government. Scientists at ICAR’s cotton research center in Nagpur pointed out that their organization will be responsible for hitting all the mission targets but is getting very little money to do the job. ICAR has to design the entire mission and set goals but lacks resources. The textile ministry fought hard to get Rs 1,100 crore after the Expenditure Department initially didn’t want to give them much money. Now that they have it, the ministry plans to use funds for ginning factories, lint quality improvements, and better bale preparation.
What Textile Ministry Will Do With Rs 1,100 Crore
The textile ministry faces a real issue in India’s cotton-to-fabric chain. Farmers grow cotton in fields, but textile mills get poor-quality raw material. As yields drop, lint quality is also falling. Better ginning facilities, proper bale handling, and improved quality checks can make a big difference in what reaches textile factories. The Rs 1,100 crore will focus on these post-harvest operations, where contamination and poor handling destroy cotton quality.
This funding also supports India’s larger textile goals of reaching Rs 250 billion industry size by 2030, with Rs 100 billion coming from exports. Cotton remains the backbone of India’s traditional textile business, employing millions and driving shipments abroad. Without reliable domestic cotton of good quality, mills must buy expensive foreign fiber or use lower-grade local cotton. Both situations hurt India’s ability to compete. The ministry’s money tackles the ground-level infrastructure problems that farmer-level improvements alone cannot fix.
The textile ministry argued throughout the planning process that it needs to be a core partner. Officials said that cotton quality depends not just on what farmers grow but on how ginning, pressing, and certification stages treat the fiber. Textile industry knowledge is essential at these steps. This logic convinced the finance commission to give the textile ministry Rs 1,100 crore specifically for textile activities.
What Comes Next
The mission is still awaiting final Cabinet approval, despite being announced in the budget earlier this year. Discussions about extending the mission from five years to ten years have created more delays. ICAR is expected to submit the formal proposal to the Prime Minister’s office soon, with senior government meetings planned to sort out remaining disagreements between departments.
Once approved, the textile ministry can utilize its Rs 1,100 crore to modernize ginning factories and enhance lint quality across cotton-growing regions. This will directly help farmers get better prices and help textile mills compete with foreign suppliers. The delay has cost time, but when the money finally flows, it could meaningfully change India’s cotton sector from bottom to top.
