Economic Coordination Committee allows cotton, sugar imports from India

The government on Wednesday allowed the import of cotton, yarn, and sugar from India in a widely expected move to bridge shortfall of the textile industry’s main input and sweetener in the country. The decisions were taken during a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet presided over by newly-appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar. India is the world’s biggest producer of cotton and the second-biggest sugar producer. ECC allowed the commercial import of white sugar of up to 500,000 tons from India till June 30 through land and sea routes.