(Reuters) - India's raw cotton exports are expected to fall 37.2 percent to 8.1 million bales in the crop year to September, reflecting lower imports by China, the world's top consumer.

Higher import taxes on raw cotton has encouraged Chinese textile mills to buy "value-added" cotton yarn, a semi-finished product on which there is no import duty. Also, China's demand for raw cotton has ebbed due to its huge stockpiles.

China was New Delhi's biggest buyer of raw cotton last year, when India shipped out a record 12.9 million bales.

The latest export forecast is slightly higher than the Cotton Advisory Board's (CAB) previous estimate of 8 million bales.

Textile Commissioner A.B. Joshi, who gave the CAB's export forecast, said traders have already shipped about 8 million bales of raw cotton so far in the year.

New Delhi controls exports to protect its domestic industry, which uses about 28 million bales a year. Traders are required to register in advance their targeted export volume for the year.

Registrations have reached 8.8-8.9 million bales for the current year, Joshi said.

Exports from India have come to a halt due to lower global prices, said Prerana Desai, vice-president of research at Kotak Commodities.

India is the world's second-largest producer and exporter of raw cotton but it imports some extra-long staple varieties which are not widely grown in the country.

Raw cotton imports to India are seen more than doubling this year to 2.5 million bales, according to the CAB.