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AIFCOSPIN moots comprehensive study to draft blueprint for sector

E-Tex Staff - Mumbai

"The major advantage that spinning cooperatives have over the urban based private sector mills is the accessibility to the raw material in their backyard, coupled with easy connectivity to weavers. By establishing backward and forward linkages with farmers, weavers and garment making units, the mills can considerably improve their overall economics and take the challenge to their competitors," stressed Mr Shamrao B Patil, president, All India Federation of Cooperative Spinning Mills (AIFCOSPIN), at the federation’s 38th annual general meeting, in Mumbai, recently.

He said that despite this advantage, the cooperative spinning mill sector was facing a number of problems. Non-availability of good quality cotton was affecting the quality of yarn in this sector, in the absence of modernisation. "Introduction of Bt cotton this year had raised some hope of raising productivity and lowering production cost, since it is bollworm-resistant. However, reports on this year’s field performance of Bt cotton are not uniformly encouraging. Even in case of non-Bt cottons, poor quality seeds were affecting productivity," he said. "Our federation has repeatedly stressed the need for earmarking separate funds under the TMC for launching cotton development programmes by the spinning cooperatives so that the farmers in their area of operation may be enabled to raise their yields and improve quality of cotton produced," he added.

AIFCOSPIN has also suggested undertaking a comprehensive study of the entire cooperative spinning sector, which would help the industry to draw up a blueprint for the resurgence of the sector, weeding out the really debilitated units, reviving and revitalising the potentially viable ones and expanding the capacity to take a greater share of the industry by establishing new modern mills capable of world class performance. The study can also lay down guidelines for the benefit of the mills themselves. "The proposed study can be undertaken by our federation in collaboration with the state level federations. I would like to take the opportunity to make an appeal to NCDC to consider this suggestion favourably and commission the study at the earliest," he said.