What is Kasturi Cotton Bharat?

About Kasturi Cotton Bharat:

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Textiles, Textile Trade Bodies, and Industry to create premium value for cotton grown in India as per benchmarked specifications.
• It is a pioneering effort in traceability, certification and branding of Indian cotton. 
• It was formalised through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Cotton Corporation of India and the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council on 15 December 2022.
• To provide complete traceability of Kasturi Cotton Bharat-tagged bales across the supply chain, QR-based certification technology is being used at each stage of the processing, and a Blockchain-based software platform will provide end-to-end traceability and transaction certificates.
  • In this regard, a Microsite with QR code verification and Blockchain technology has been developed.
• The Kasturi Cotton Bharat programme is operational at the national level, and its promotion is being made at national and international platforms. Hence, the allocation of funds is not at state level.
• Ginners across the country have been empowered to produce the Kasturi Cotton Bharat brand as per stipulated protocol.

What is Ginning?

• It is one of the most important steps of the spinning process.
• After collecting seed cotton from the farm or field, cotton moves to nearby Gins for separation of seed, lint and any other foreign particles.
• Ginning is the process of getting the cleaned cotton by separating or removing the seeds, dust, or any other foreign particles so that better cotton can be offered for the cotton spinning mills.
• It was traditionally done by hand, but nowadays, machines are used.