The Open-end Spinners Association has demanded the removal of market committee cess on waste cotton, which is a raw material used by mills. G Arulmozhi, Secretary of the association revealed that 50 per cent of the 450 open-end spinning mills in the state use cotton waste from textile mills as raw material. 

However, these mills face competition from the units in other states due to the 1 per cent market committee cess levied on waste cotton. The open-end mills in the state consume nearly 10 lakh kg, buying waste cotton from textile mills across the state and even from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. The cess should have been removed after the introduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax), but it was not done. 

Members of the association met officials concerned as well as the Textile Minister of Tamil Nadu several times and sought the removal of the cess on waste cotton. But the government is yet to notify removal of the cess.