Growth in Export and Import of Cotton Under WTO Regime in India

The present study attempts to examine the growth in the export and import of cotton from India during pre-and post-WTO period. The time series data on export and import were collected for a period from 1977–78 to 2012 13. The study period was divided into pre-WTO period (1977–78 to 1994–95) and post-WTO period (1995–96 to 2012–13). The findings of the study reveal that during the pre-WTO period the highest share of exports from India was to China (31.89%) followed by Japan (16.18%) and Thailand (6.95%). But during the post-WTO period China was the largest importer of India's cotton with a share of 55.54 per cent followed by Pakistan (13.49%) and Bangladesh (11.30%). In both quantity and value of exports, the growth of exports was positively significant during the post-WTO period and growth in quantity of exports was highest in Viet Nam (76.54%) and Turkey (75.37%). The destination wise average imports revealed that during the pre-WTO period the highest share of cotton imported by India from Pakistan (27.48%) followed by Australia (11.53%), Sudan former (11.23%) and USA (10.93%). But during the post-WTO period United States of America was the largest exporter of cotton to India with a share of 27.69 per cent followed by Egypt (12.50%) and Australia (6.23%). In both quantity and value of imports, the growth was not significant during both the periods and growth in quantity of imports was highest for United Republic of Tanzania (51.43%) and Burkina Faso (48.96%) during post-WTO period.