The Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) on 22 September re-elected Durai Palanisamy as chairman for 2026-27 at its 67th Annual General Meeting in Coimbatore, and used the platform to press New Delhi on cotton price volatility that the trade body says eats 65-70% of yarn manufacturing cost.

Palanisamy, executive director of Pallava Textiles P Limited in Erode, will serve alongside re-elected deputy chairman S. Krishnakumar, managing director of Tiruppur-based Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mills, and vice-chairman K. Sivaraj, managing director of Sivaraj Spinning Mills in Dindigul. All three won unanimous re-election.

What's driving the agenda?

In a press release issued after the AGM, the chairman tied SIMA's competitiveness push to diversification away from cotton — historically India's anchor fibre — into man-made fibres, technical textiles, recycled yarns and higher-value products. Krishnakumar's Sulochana Cotton already converts used PET bottles into recycled yarns and fabrics, and he now also heads the newly created Tirupur Yarn Manufacturers Association.

Sivaraj Spinning Mills runs a four-product domestic portfolio covering yarn, woven fabric, knitted fabric and readymade garments.

Which government wins did SIMA claim?

Palanisamy thanked the NDA government for what he described as growth-oriented policy moves affecting yarn makers, spinners and exporters. The list includes:

• Rationalisation of GST across the textile value chain
• Withdrawal of Quality Control Orders on cotton, MMF fibres, filaments and yarns
• Reduction of Hank Yarn Obligation from 30% to 20%
• Rollback of the punitive U.S. tariff from 50% to 18%
• Temporary exemption of cotton from 11% import duty
• Revisions to the PLI scheme with lower investment and turnover thresholds
• Progress on FTAs with the EU, UK, New Zealand and Oman
• Export credit support, RoDTEP restoration and extension of RoSCTL
• Extension of export obligation period under Advance Authorisation
• Launch of the Mission for Cotton Productivity
• Introduction of ECLGS 5.0 — fully collateral-free additional credit up to 20% of peak working capital, capped at Rs 100 Cr per borrower, with a tenure of up to five years until 31 March 2027 and a one-year moratorium on principal repayment
• Rejection of anti-dumping duty recommendations on elastomeric filament yarn
• Withdrawal of a proposed 3.48% power tariff increase in Tamil Nadu

What does SIMA still want?

Two items top the unfinished agenda. First, the association wants the 11% import duty on cotton made permanent rather than temporary, to counter what it calls the import parity pricing adopted by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and private trade. Second, it wants CCI's role reshaped to mirror China National Cotton Reserves Corporation, which holds more than a year of supply to stabilise markets.

Palanisamy framed cotton price volatility as the binding constraint: "Curbing speculation in the raw material prices is essential to provide a level playing field for the entire textile value chain," he said, urging the government to act on both demands.

What's the sourcing implication?

For sourcing teams, the tariff moves matter most. The U.S. duty rollback from 50% to 18% restores cost competitiveness on cotton-rich apparel exports to North America, while active FTA negotiations with the EU, UK, New Zealand and Oman open new preferential lanes for yarn and fabric. Until the 11% cotton duty is settled permanently, spinners face a regime overhang that complicates fibre-cost forecasting and mill margin planning.

Compliance teams should track PLI threshold changes, the ECLGS 5.0 deadline of 31 March 2027, and the withdrawal of Quality Control Orders on cotton, MMF fibres, filaments and yarns — each of which reshapes sourcing eligibility and supplier documentation flows.