India waives 11% cotton import duty for five months to ease textile input costs

Government suspends 11% cotton import duty from June 1 to October 31, a five-month window aimed at cooling raw material costs for textile and apparel manufacturers, particularly MSMEs and exporters squeezed by elevated domestic cotton prices.

— Source publishedSun, 31 May, 2026, 02:50 IST·First seen Sun, 31 May, 2026, 02:57 IST·Source Times of India · Business

What happened

Government of India · Government grants five-month duty exemption on cotton imports from June 1 to Oct 31, removing the 11% import duty to cool input costs for

Key facts

  • 11% import duty
  • June 1 to Oct 31
  • 5 months

Why this matters

The temporary duty waiver creates a window to renegotiate supply agreements with Indian textile vendors and evaluate bolt-ons among margin-stressed MSME apparel makers before pricing normalizes.