AIKS Calls Upon Farmers to Protest Decision to Scrap 11% Import Duty on Raw Cotton

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has condemned the decision of the RSS-BJP led union government to scrap the 11% import duty on raw cotton. The decision, notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is valid from August 19 until September 30, 2025. According to the AIKS, this decision will result in a reduction in the price of imported cotton which, in turn, will push prices of domestic cotton downwards. Small cotton producers in India cannot compete with large, industrial-scale cotton farmers of the United States who have historically received massive government subsidies.

According to the CPI-M affiliated mass organisation of farmers, the AIKS, the immediate impact of this decision will be particularly severe as farmers in most cotton-growing areas have already sown their crops almost two months back and have sunk significant costs in anticipation of getting remunerative prices for their produce. This move to scrap import duties comes at a particularly bad time as farmers prepare to harvest their crop. Cotton-growing regions of India are notorious for agrarian distress and death by suicides by farmers. The latest policy decision will further push cotton farmers into indebtedness and aggravate the economic distress.

The statement also states that it is ironic that this anti farmer decision was followed by Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day speech in which he said that he is “standing like a wall against any adverse policy that could impact Indian farmers, fisherfolk and cattle keepers” and “India will never compromise the interests of Indian farmers, fisherfolk and cattle keepers”. Modi’s consistent pro imperialist policies couldn’t ensure the protection of India’s interests in the tariff war initiated by Trump. The US has declared a more than 50% tariff on India’s textile exports. To manage the situation, Modi has decided to punish Indian cotton farmers who are the weakest links in the global supply chain.

Finally, the AIKS states that “the neoliberal era has witnessed the squeezing of Indian cotton farmers from the input and output side by the state-capital nexus. In his 11 year tenure as the prime minister, Modi never gave MSP to the cotton farmers at the recommended rate of C2+50. For instance, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) announced MSP for cotton in the 2025 Kharif season is Rs.7710 per quintal. If the C2+50 formula was used, it would have been Rs.10075 per quintal. To put it in a simpler way, Indian cotton farmers are currently receiving Rs.2365 less per quintal as MSP. This itself is a clear betrayal of the farmers. If the cotton price is further declining, it will be outright looting of the farmers.”

“The duplicity of US lobbying with the Indian government to reduce state support to the Indian cotton farmers is well documented. It has been estimated that, in the US, government subsidies are as high as 12 per cent of the total value of production of cotton while in India, government support to cotton farmers is about 2.37 per cent of the value of production. This massive disparity in levels of state support is at the core of the advantage US cotton farmers have over cotton producers in developing countries.”

It is the massive disparity in levels of government support and the large difference in scale of production of farmers in the US and India combine to put Indian farmers at a huge disadvantage, explains the statement by the AIKS released by its President, Ashok Dhawale and General Secretary, Vijoo Krishnan.

The AIKS also points out that it is crucial to remember that the US government is putting pressure on India to similarly open Indian markets to other farm products from the US. Unless farmers make it clear to the Indian government that such anti-farmer decisions will not be tolerated, it is likely that the Modi government will succumb to the US pressure and take such decisions for other crops as well. Hence, the AIKS has called upon all farmers to come together and launch an intense agitation to force the government to reverse this decision.

Courtesy: Sabrang India