The government has restricted exports of raw cotton to cool prices of the fibre. The Textiles Ministry has announced that mandatory pre-shipment registration of raw cotton and cotton waste has been suspended for an indefinite period of time.

According to sources the huge hike in the price of cotton has made the authorities to take such steps. India is the second largest cotton producer in the world. It has exported 2.36 million bales of cotton last season.

The Textiles Ministry has informed that it has discussed with other ministries on the increase in the price of cotton in the domestic market.

After the inter-ministerial meeting the export contracts has been suspended from 19th of April. It will remain suspended until further orders. However, the registration before this date can be exported as per the Textile Ministry.

As per a senior official, the ministry is looking forward to control the rising prices of the cotton in the Indian market. The price of raw cotton was around Rs 28,300 per candy (356 kg) last month. The same quantity was costing around Rs 22,000 in last October.