A day after agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said he was kept in the dark about the ban on cotton exports,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday directed a group of ministers (GoM) to urgently review the controversial decision. Singhs directive,made public by a statement on his office website,came amid protests by leaders of key cotton-producing states cutting across political parties,including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi,fearing an adverse impact of the ban on farmers earnings. A delegation of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee along with general secretaries of Gujarat and Maharashtra met Singh on Wednesday with a request for immediate removal of ban on export of cotton,the Prime Ministers Office said. Significantly,polls are due within a year in Gujarat,the countrys largest cotton producer. The PMO statement is aimed at dispelling any communication gap among ministries concerned after Pawar said such matters should have been discussed in the Cabinet Committee on Prices or the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs before the ban was slapped. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee heads the informal GoM on cotton. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Monday had announced the ban on cotton exports after the registration of export contracts hit a record 12.5 million bales. One bale equals 170 kg. Government officials had said the move was aimed at keeping supplies steady throughout the year for some consuming industries struggling with a severe fund crunch. Traders have already shipped a record 9.5 million bales so far in the year through September,compared with around eight million bales a year before. The country is expecting a record harvest of 34 million bales of cotton in 2011-12,up from 33.9 last year. Pawar has taken the view that since plentiful supplies have already dragged down cotton prices significantly this year from record levels in 2010-11,there was no need for any ban as farmers earnings will further dwindle. However,textile secretary Kiran Dhingra said on Tuesday that the ban was the unanimous view of the committee of secretaries,which also comprised agriculture secretary PK Basu. She said the ban was also in step with the policy approved by the informal GoM in April 2010 that the country will maintain a carry-forward stock level of at least five million bales each year and only surplus cotton should be exported. FE Inventory Control * Cotton export contracts hit a record 12.5 million bales * Government officials have said the move was aimed at keeping supplies steady for consuming industries having a fund crunch * The cotton harvest this year would total 34 million bales up 33.9% * Pawar has said that plentiful harvest dragged down prices and hurt farmers earnings,which is why there was no need for a ban on
