CCI’s cotton procurement is still going on in states like Maharashtra and Telangana Photo Courtesy: Mohammad Arif
The Cotton Corporation of India on Monday announced another cut in the selling price of the 2025-26 crop. CCI has reduced the prices per candy of 356 kg by ₹700-1100 to boost its sales. This is when public procurement of cotton at the minimum support price (MSP) reached 98.9 lakh bales of 170 kg on Monday.
The sale price cut on Monday is the second such cut by CCI in the last two weeks, primarily to attract buyers. Earlier, on February 10, CCI had announced a cut in the selling price by Rs 1,400-1,700 per candy. According to trade, the slow response of mills and trade to CCI’s earlier price cut may have prompted the state-run entity to improve its prices within a short period of time.
Trade sources said market prices were trending below CCI prices, thereby attracting interest from buyers. Although arrivals have reduced in some states like Karnataka, arrivals are still continuing in the mandi in parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana.
CCI’s cotton procurement is still continuing in states like Maharashtra and Telangana. CCI Chairman and Managing Director Lalit Kumar Gupta said, the procurement quantity at MSP in the current season has reached 98.9 lakh bales.
on global signals
Earlier Gupta had told business Line The price cut by CCI was in line with international prices and sales will pick up only after March.
CCI, which started sales of the 2025-26 crop on January 19, is likely to sell around 5 lakh bales on a slow response from trade and industry, which is finding cotton and imports attractive in the market.
Ramanuj Das Boob, sourcing agent in Raichur, said since arrivals are also declining, CCI may be able to increase its sales if they extend the delivery period from the current 30 days to 60 or 90 days and reduce the price by further Rs 500 per candy.
Currently, market prices are running around ₹500-1,000 lower than CCI prices. He said that cotton prices in Maharashtra and Gujarat are hovering around Rs 7,600-7,700.
He said cotton imported especially from Brazil is hovering around ₹52,000-54,000 level on port delivery, which is lower than domestic prices.
cai estimate
The Cotton Association of India has estimated the crop size in 2025-26 to be 317 lakh bales of 170 kg each and consumption for the year is estimated to be 305 lakh bales. By the end of January, cotton consumption was estimated at 104 lakh bales.
CAI has projected a year-end surplus of 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. By the end of January, imports stood at 35 lakh bales and exports at 6 lakh bales.
Published on February 23, 2026
