Chennai, Dec 1 Madurai CPI(M) MP S. Venkatesan has alleged that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) had enabled middlemen to earn a Rs 696 crore profit with its pricing policy, and also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to launch a probe.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Venkatesan said CCI had an unsold stock of 120 lakh bales last year.
In July and August 2020, the company decided to offer large quantities of bales to certain buyers at a discount.
According to Venkatesan, CCI sold 50 lakh bales at Rs 35,000 per candy while the sale price was Rs 38,000 per candy giving a profit of Rs 696 crore for the four buyers.
Venkatesan has alleged that the four buyers had bought the stocks on special terms like deferred payment.
He alleged that soon after the sale to the four buyers, CCI started increasing its prices per candy to facilitate them to make a profit.
"This amount neither benefited the farmers nor the Cotton Textile Industry. This information is shocking and needs to be probed," Venkatesan told Modi.
He said the same set of buyers are procuring cotton from CCI in a similar manner and profiteering at the cost of a government organisation.
"I would request you to institute a fair probe on these transactions and bring the facts to the knowledge of the general public," Venkatesan told the PM.
Venkatesan also appealed to Modi to formulate such rules and regulations to prevent such leakages in future and make the process more transparent.
( With inputs from IANS )
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