Gujarat has maintained its position as the leading cotton-producing state in India for the 2023-24 season, with a total production of 90.57 lakh bales. This puts Gujarat ahead of other major cotton-producing states like Maharashtra and Telangana. In total, India produced 325.22 lakh bales of cotton during this season, which is slightly lower than the 336.60 lakh bales produced in the previous season but higher than the 311.18 lakh bales in the 2021-22 season.
The cotton production figures for other states include:
- Andhra Pradesh: 7.37 lakh bales
- Telangana: 50.80 lakh bales
- Haryana: 15.09 lakh bales
- Karnataka: 20.59 lakh bales
- Madhya Pradesh: 18.01 lakh bales
- Maharashtra: 80.45 lakh bales
- Odisha: 7.05 lakh bales
- Punjab: 6.29 lakh bales
- Rajasthan: 26.22 lakh bales
- Tamil Nadu: 2.52 lakh bales
In response to a query in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister of State for Textiles highlighted that the Central Government has introduced various schemes to boost textile exports. These include exemptions from state and central taxes on the export of textiles and related products.
Interestingly, Maharashtra had overtaken Gujarat in cotton production during the 2021-22 season, but Gujarat reclaimed its position as the top producer in the subsequent 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.