SEP 03: Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Giriraj Singh, chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi on September 2, 2025, to assess the preparedness for cotton procurement under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme for the upcoming Kharif Marketing Season 2025–26, commencing October 1. The meeting was attended by senior officials including Smt. Neelam Shami Rao, Secretary Textiles; Smt. Padmini Singla, Joint Secretary (Fibre); and Shri Lalit Kumar Gupta, CMD of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI).
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to cotton farmers, the Union Minister assured that all kapas arriving under MSP guidelines would be procured seamlessly, with an emphasis on timely, transparent, and farmer-friendly service delivery. He highlighted that the initiative aligns with the Government’s Digital India vision, as MSP operations are now faceless, paperless, and fully digital, ensuring greater confidence and trust among stakeholders.
For the first time, uniform norms have been introduced for procurement centre operations, considering cultivation area, functional APMC yards, and stock processing facilities. As a result, a record 550 procurement centres have been approved across major cotton-producing states. Procurement will begin from October 1 in northern states, October 15 in central states, and October 21 in southern states.
A major reform this season is the launch of the ‘Kapas-Kisaan’ mobile app, enabling Aadhaar-based self-registration of farmers and 7-day rolling slot booking to streamline operations. Direct Aadhaar-linked payments will be made to farmers’ bank accounts through NACH, while SMS-based payment alerts will continue.
To ensure effective on-ground support, Local Monitoring Committees (LMCs) will function at every APMC mandi for grievance redressal. Additionally, state-level helplines and a central CCI helpline will remain active throughout the procurement season. Adequate manpower, logistics, and infrastructure have been arranged in advance to ensure smooth operations.
CMD Shri Ajit Kumar Saxena praised the preparedness, emphasizing that this comprehensive digital and physical infrastructure will safeguard farmers’ interests, provide remunerative returns, and strengthen India’s cotton economy.
