Punjab gets just 0.3% of Centre’s textile skilling funds; No special package for cotton growers: KBS Sidhu
Babushahi Network
Chandigarh, October 19, 2026: Punjab has received just 0.3 per cent of the workers trained under the Centre’s Samarth textile skilling scheme, while its cotton growers have received no special Central relief package despite a sharp decline in cotton cultivation, former Punjab Special Chief Secretary KBS Sidhu said on Monday.
Sidhu said the figures highlighted a gap between the Centre’s textile development initiatives and Punjab’s needs, particularly as the state is being urged to diversify away from water-intensive paddy cultivation.
Citing Union Textiles Ministry data, Sidhu said 2,56,985 workers had been trained across India under the Samarth scheme as of February 2024, but only 759 were from Punjab. Under the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, Punjab’s textile units received ₹73 crore out of ₹1,868 crore released nationally between 2020-21 and 2023-24, accounting for 3.9 per cent of the total.
He said Ludhiana, a major centre for India’s hosiery and knitwear industry, risked missing out on future support if the proposed ₹25,000-crore Samarth 2.0 scheme followed the pattern of earlier allocations.
“Ludhiana knits much of what India wears in winter, yet it has been almost invisible in the Centre’s textile schemes,” Sidhu said, urging the Centre to ensure that Punjab’s textile clusters receive a fair share of funding.
Cotton area falls to record low
Sidhu also raised concerns over the decline in cotton cultivation in Punjab, saying the area under the crop had fallen to around 80,000 hectares during the 2026 kharif season, compared with more than five lakh hectares in 2020.
He attributed the decline to repeated pink bollworm attacks and uncertainty over procurement. He said the state government’s 33 per cent subsidy on cotton seeds had failed to reverse the trend.
Sidhu argued that asking farmers to shift away from paddy would have limited impact without adequate support for alternative crops.
“Everyone tells the Punjab farmer to give up paddy and save the water table. But when he grows cotton, he gets pest attacks, no assured purchase, and now duty-free imports arriving just as his crop reaches the mandi,” he said.
Import duty extension may affect growers
Sidhu pointed to the customs duty exemption on raw cotton imports, which was due to expire on October 31, saying a possible extension until December could coincide with Punjab’s cotton marketing season.
He said cotton arrivals in the Malwa region generally continued from late September through December. According to the figures he cited, mandi prices had declined from around ₹9,025 per quintal in Abohar in mid-September to about ₹8,200 in Bathinda in early October. He also referred to national cotton stocks of approximately 93.59 lakh bales.
Seeks support for Ludhiana industry, cotton farmers
Sidhu said he had written jointly to the Union Secretaries of Textiles, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Revenue, and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, with a copy to the Punjab Chief Secretary.
His demands include a guaranteed share for underserved textile clusters such as Ludhiana under Samarth 2.0, eligibility for Ludhiana’s hosiery cluster under the proposed Textile Expansion and Employment Scheme, full procurement by the Cotton Corporation of India in Malwa mandis, and restrictions on duty-free cotton imports during the North Zone’s harvesting months.
He also urged the Punjab Government to submit its proposal to the Centre before the guidelines for the new textile scheme are notified.