Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and his officials are training guns on the US company MMBL for their monopolistic control over India’s cotton sector, reported HT.
The matter has reached both court and PMO as Singh has passed orders for a price cap on the cotton seeds from March. The Minister is concerned over widely varying prices of cotton seeds from states to states and wishes to regulate them through a price cap.
The cotton production which grew four times after the introduction of Bt Cotton is being controlled upto 98 percent by a single company Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech (India) Private (MMBL) — a 50:50 joint venture of US biotech giant Monsanto.
While the US company feels that it amounts to throttling free market, Ministry officials argue that it is monopoly in the name of free market. They have also referred the matter to anti-trust regulator the Competition Commission of India.
The seed business is worth Rs 5,000 crore and 98% of the cotton is of the GM variety. The country’s output jumped fourfold since the genetically modified cotton was introduced in 2002, making India one of the largest growers.
The Company has also written a letter to PMS seeking its intervention in the matter.