I came across the figures of country-wise production of cotton, and consumption of cotton for production of cotton yarn. Here they are :
The last column denotes whether the country is a net producer of cotton as an agricultural commodity, or it is importing cotton to feed its industry. Pakistan with a GDP of 162 billion US dollars, has put up spinning capacity to consume 2.20 million tonnes of cotton.
India in contrast, with a GDP of 1,236 billion US dollars (as per IMF 2009 figures), is not industrialized enough to even consume its own cotton!
Time for policy makers and industry associations to wake up?