Turned off by the increasing cost of transporting cotton bales via land from states like Gujarat and Maharashtra, the textile mill associations of Coimbatore have decided to bring in the crucial raw material by ship in order to cut costs.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the Southern India Mills’ Association
(SIMA) and the Indian National Ship Owners Association. The agreement will come into effect in another two weeks. The price of transporting cotton currently stands at Rs.850 per bale. This is expected to come down to Rs.550.

Annually, mills in Tamil Nadu consume about 130 lakh cotton bales per year. Gujarat supplies more than 60 lakh bales.