Dhaka and New Delhi may shortly seal an agreement on cotton that will ensure the supply of a fixed minimum quantity from New Delhi to Bangladesh every year irrespective of any export ban.
‘Bangladesh wants India to commit to 15 lakh bales (170 kg each) of cotton every year, but the final amount is still being negotiated,’ Bangladesh commerce minister GM Quader told Business Line in New Delhi.
The daily said the deal was being worked out by the commerce and textile ministries of the two countries.
For India, the Cotton Corporation of India will sign the final agreement, an Indian commerce department official told the Business Line.
‘We hope that within the next few months the deal will be through,’ the Business Line quoted a Bangladesh official as saying.
It said the supply agreement would ensure that even if India imposed a ban on cotton exports at some point of time during the year, it would be obligated to sell at least the committed quantity.
India had imposed a ban on cotton exports last March and stopped exports of even cotton that had been contracted.
-With UNB/New Age input
