India’s imports of raw cotton and waste surged by 72 per cent in dollar terms during the April-January period of current financial year to over $1.79 billion as mills and the trade, taking advantage of the duty exemption, made record purchases overseas. Imports of cotton raw and waste were $1.04 billion a year ago.
As per the latest quick estimates released by the Commerce Ministry, the cotton imports in rupee value stood at ₹15,857 crore during the April-January period of current financial year, an increase of 81 per cent over corresponding last year’s ₹8771.96 crore.
The import value of cotton during financial year 2024-25 stood at $1.21 billion, while the previous high during any financial year was $1.43 billion in 2022-23.
CAI estimate
According to the Cotton Association of India data, about 35 lakh bales of 170 kg each are estimated to have imported till the end of January 2026 in the ongoing cotton year 2025-26, starting October.
The Government had exempted cotton from import duty in August till September end initially and extended the duty-free status till December 31, 2025 to augment supplies and ease the burden of the textiles industry, which had come under severe pressure due to the 50 per cent US tariffs and enhance their global competitiveness. Cotton imports attract 11 per cent duty in India.
“This is the highest ever imports in value terms,” said Atul S Ganatra, former president, CAI said. CAI estimates imports to touch 50 lakh bales of 170 kg each during 2025-26 cotton year ending September, up from 41 lakh bales in the previous year.
While 35 lakh bales have already come in, another 4-5 lakh bales of extra long staple cotton of above 32 mm are expected to come in the next few months. Also, another 3 lakh bales of duty free cotton from Australia under the free trade agreement will come in during June-July, and another 3-4 lakh bales from the African countries at lower duty of 5.5 per cent are expected to come into the country, he said.
Higher realisation
Ramanuj Das Boob, a sourcing agent in Raichur said cotton is imported from countries such as Brazil, Australia, US and West African countries. The imports of quality cotton were needed to help the textiles sector compete effectively in the overseas market.
Ganatra said spinning mills get a 2-3 per cent higher realisation from the imported cotton, while the prices of domestic cotton are higher than the international prices by about 8-10 per cent.
Earlier this month, CAI raised its crop estimate for 2025-26 by around 2.5 per cent or 7.5 lakh bales of 170 kg each to 317 lakh bales on higher than estimated production in Maharashtra and Telangana. CAI has projected a year-end surplus 122.59 lakh bales for the 2025-26 season, up 56 per cent year-on-year on record imports of 50 lakh bales during the year.
Published on February 17, 2026
