Facility

Gujarat / Maharashtra / Telangana Cotton Belt (India)

Indian cotton belt (primary states: Gujarat — Ahmedabad district, Saurashtra region; Maharashtra — Vidarbha region, Marathwada; Telangana — Warangal district); India is the world's second-largest cotton producer (~25% of global production) and largest cotton yarn exporter. Indian cotton is predominantly short-staple upland grown by smallholder farmers (average holding: 2-3 hectares), largely Bt cotton (genetically modified, approved India 2002 — now ~95% of Indian cotton area is Bt). Gujarat produces the highest-quality Indian cotton; Maharashtra's Vidarbha region is associated with farmer distress and suicide epidemics driven by cotton price volatility and debt cycles. India's Cotton Corporation of India (CCI — government body) intervenes in markets through Minimum Support Price (MSP) purchases when market prices fall below government floor prices, but MSP procurement coverage is incomplete. Source: Cotton Association of India; USDA FAS India Cotton 2024.