Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh has drawn up plans to set up as many as 550 procurement centres nationwide for buying cotton from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) during the forthcoming kharif marketing season, which starts on October 1.

The minister reaffirmed the government's vision to protect the interests of cotton farmers by ensuring remunerative prices for their produce and accelerating the shift towards a digitally empowered cotton ecosystem, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.

He chaired a high-level review meeting here in the presence of Neelam Shami Rao, Secretary Textiles, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Textiles and the Cotton Corporation of India to assess the preparedness for MSP operations for cotton during the upcoming Kharif marketing season 2025–26, commencing October 1.

Uniform norms have been laid down for the establishment of procurement centres, factoring in key parameters such as cotton cultivation area, availability of functional APMC yards and at least the availability of one stock processing factory at the cotton procurement centre.

As a result, a record 550 procurement centres have been set up across major cotton-producing states. Procurement of cotton under MSP will commence from October 1 in the North States, October 15 in the Central States and from October 21 in the Southern States, the statement said.

In line with the Government's Digital India vision, all processes - right from procurement of cotton by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) under MSP operations to sale of stocks - are now completely faceless and paperless, strengthening farmers' and other stakeholders' confidence and trust in MSP operations, the minister said.

Starting this season, nationwide Aadhaar-based self-registration of cotton farmers and seven-day rolling slot booking will be facilitated via the newly launched 'Kapas-Kisaan' mobile app.

This digital platform aims to streamline procurement operations, ensure transparency and enable direct Aadhaar-linked payments to farmers' bank accounts through the National Automated Clearing House (NACH). The SMS-based payment intimation service introduced last year will also continue.

To enhance on-ground support, Local Monitoring Committees (LMC) will be constituted at each APMC mandi for immediate grievance redressal by the States. Additionally, dedicated state-level helplines and a Central CCI helpline will remain active throughout the procurement period. Adequate manpower deployment, logistics support and other infrastructural arrangements would be in place before the commencement of the cotton season, the statement added.