Cotton purchasing on a standstill in Rajkot

Rajkot, May 17 (PTI) Cotton purchasing at the market yard here remained standstill on the third consecutive day following a strike called by the ginners association in Gujarat to protest the Centre's decision to restrict cotton export to 50 lakh bales. "We want the Union government to allow us to export around 20 lakh bales more. We will continue the strike till our demand is fulfilled," Saurashtra Ginners Association' president Bharat Vala said. The ginners' and farmers' representatives had gone to Delhi, along with local MPs, on May 15 to share their grievances with Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran.However, they failed to meet him. The representatives are now planning to go to Delhi again after getting a positive response from him the Textile Minister, sources from the association said. Ginners in the state are also in touch with ginning mill owners in states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, they said adding that ginners from Maharashtra will soon join them in the strike. Gujarat has over 900 ginning mills and most of them have stopped purchasing cotton from yards resulting in the price of cotton reducing further. "This is the only way to raise our demand and if the cotton market crashes, we will be able to draw the Centre's attention towards our problems," a ginning mill owner said.PTI VJA VKV

(Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/cotton-purchasing-on-a-standstill-in-rajkot/689266.html)