Chandigarh, Nov 23: Punjab’s cotton ginning industry is in deep distress as shrinking cotton acreage drives factories toward closure, with industry insiders saying the sector is now working at a fraction of its capacity. Ginners said the decline in cultivation has destabilised one of the state’s oldest agri-linked businesses, which depends heavily on consistent raw supply.
In 2008, the state hosted 422 cotton ginning units; however, industry records show only 32 factories functioning this kharif season, marking a 93% fall over 16 years. Entrepreneurs said at least 10 more units could exit the market next year in the absence of adequate institutional support.
Ginners explained they extract around 33–36 kg of lint and 63–66 kg of seed from every quintal of raw cotton. The seed is then crushed into edible oil and de-oiled cake, which is used as animal feed. But the drop in cultivation has meant that factories are unable to secure enough cotton to operate profitably, despite heavy fixed costs and rising power tariffs.
Acreage in the southwest region has been steadily shrinking due to repeated crop disasters since 2021. Farmers and factory owners pointed to pink bollworm attacks, insufficient irrigation coverage, and unstable weather conditions as prime causes. The acreage hit a record low of 96,000 hectares last year before rebounding marginally to 1.29 lakh hectares this season, though unseasonal rain has already damaged more than 20,000 hectares of crop.
Industry veteran and Bathinda-based factory owner, Kaliash Garg, said he has decided to shutter his unit after 47 years in business due to diminishing supply. Garg, also an office-bearer of the Punjab Cotton Mills and Ginning Association, said pest outbreaks in Bathinda, Mansa and adjoining districts have devastated the supply chain. “Cotton used to be a traditional summer crop for the semi-arid districts. As the hybrid cotton is susceptible to pest attacks, farmers are shying away from growing cotton due to economic reasons,” he said, adding that new spinning mills are processing raw cotton in-house, cutting ginners out of the value chain. Garg said government must urgently push next-generation Bt cotton varieties to revive farmer confidence.
Operators said the shortage has led to underutilisation of machinery, with units running at less than one-fourth of their installed capacity. From Malout, ginner Bhagwan Bansal said the daily production requirement of 200 bales — about 340 quintals — is not being met. “A cotton ginning unit operator has to pay about ₹10 lakh fixed electricity charges for the nine-month season from September 1 onwards. As the pest attack has severely hit crop production since 2022, we are unable to run factories,” he said, arguing that authorities have not protected their interests. “The Punjab government is quick to grant compensation to affected cotton growers, but the interests of ginners have been overlooked by the respective state governments. The government is biased towards investors,” he stated.
Fazilka-based operator Munish Bansal said that until 2021, his unit processed 25,000 bales annually, but managed only 2,500 this season. “There is a huge scarcity of cotton, and we are unable to run the factories,” he said, adding that strengthened irrigation shifted producers in the Malwa zone from cotton to non-basmati rice, a less labour-intensive crop.
