NEW DELHI: Govt has waived customs duty on raw cotton imports for 40 days, seeking to cool prices and ease pressure on textile mills grappling with rising input costs due to the tariffs.The exemption, effective Aug 19 to Sept 30, removes the 5% basic customs duty and the 5% agriculture infrastructure and development cess. Govt said the idea was to enhance the availability of raw cotton in the domestic market and support export competitiveness of Indian textile products by lowering production costs.According to GTRI, India’s cotton imports more than doubled in the previous financial year, surging 107% to $1.2 billion, compared with $579 million a year before.
