India gets its first ever Brand & Logo for its Cotton on ‘2nd World Cotton Day’
12 October 2020: India’s first ever Brand and Logo for Indian Cotton was launched by Smriti Irani, Union Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development launched on the occasion of 2nd World Cotton Day on 7th October, 2020.
India is the 2nd largest cotton producer and the largest consumer of cotton in the world. India produces about 6.00 Million tons of cotton every year which is about 23% of the world cotton. India produces about 51% of the total organic cotton production of the world, which demonstrates India’s effort towards sustainability. Now India’s premium Cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the world cotton Trade. The Kasturi Cotton brand will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianness.
Speaking through a Video Conferencing, Irani said “This is a much awaited moment that today the Indian Cotton has been endowed with a Brand & Logo. This event becomes more important as the 2nd World Cotton Day is being celebrated world over.”
Recounting the importance of Cotton in Indian economy, she said: “Cotton is one of the principal commercial crops of India and it provides livelihood to about 6.00 million cotton farmers. So, to ensure sustainability, integrity and end-to-end traceability of the organic products, a certification system based on comparable international standards verified through internationally acceptable institutional system is required to be put in place.”
She said that the Ministry of Textiles through APEDA under Ministry of Commerce and Industry has prescribed a certification system for organic Cotton which will be introduced in phases in the entire textile value chain. Similarly, prescribing a certification system for non-organic Cotton has also been taken up with APEDA so that usages of cotton can be suitably augmented.
The Minister also addressed one of the sessions of the webinar organised by TEXPROCIL and CITI on the theme of “NEW-LOOK COTTON” to facilitate exchange of ideas on the emerging scenarios in cotton usage and application.
