An ambitious mission on cotton announced in the last budget still exists only on paper. Here is why

Big schemes in the Union Budget often do not get implemented even years after being announced. One such scheme, announced in last year’s budget, serves as an example.  

In the budget speech for the year 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, “The government is launching the Cotton Productivity Mission in the interest of millions of farmers growing cotton. This mission will be for a five-year period. It aims to increase the productivity of cotton cultivation, make cultivation sustainable, and promote extra-long staple cotton varieties. Farmers will be assisted with the best science and technology available.”

Sitharaman said the mission was in line with the ‘5F’ vision of the textile sector i.e. thinking from farm to fashion. This would help increase the income of farmers and ensure regular supply of good quality cotton for India’s traditional textile industry.

Her announcement drew a lot of attention at the time, because cotton farmers have been facing big challenges for the last several years.

But a full year later, on February 1, 2026, when Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the budget speech, she did not mention the scheme. In fact, in the budget of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, a provision of Rs 500 crore was made for the Cotton Technology Mission announced last year. But no allotment has been made for this Mission in the current budget.

The objective of the Cotton Technology Mission was to improve both quantity and quality of cotton production in the country. The focus of the Mission is on increasing productivity of cotton, improving quality, strengthening marketing and processing and increasing farmers’ income.

What happened to it?

What then happened to the Cotton Productivity Mission? It is mentioned in the Union Ministry of Finance’s Implementation of Budget Announcements (2025-2026) document. The document states that the proposal of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) linked to the Cotton Productivity Mission was presented at the 10th Interactive Meeting of the Textile Advisory Group on Cotton on May 27, 2025, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. On this occasion, the Concept Note of the Cotton Productivity Mission, jointly prepared by the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and the Ministry of Textiles, was shared.

This was followed by a meeting of Secretaries from the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Department of Textiles, Environment, Biotechnology, Science and Technology and Scientific and Industrial Research on November 6, 2025, to discuss the EFC proposal on Cotton Productivity Mission.

Based on the suggestions and feedback received from these meetings and discussions, the Concept Note of the Mission has been prepared, and the draft EFC is being finalised for inter-ministerial consultations. The revised EFC proposal has been shared with the Department of Agricultural Research and Education for review and suggestions.

This document on the implementation of budget announcements (2025-2026) shows that so far, the plan is just on paper between ministries and departments. Due to its absence in the current budget, the question also being raised is whether this scheme is going to be implemented this year or not?