The research efforts of CICR fall under the All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project (AICCIP), initiated by the Council in 1967.

CIRS has two campus at Nagpur in Maharashtra and Sirsa in Haryana.

Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur ('CICR, Nagpur or CICRN) in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra, implemented a pilot project in the Vidarbha region (highly prone to farmer suicides), based on a Brazilian model to enhance the per-acre yield of cotton while reducing its per-acre cultivation cost.

The Brazilian model is based on straight cotton crops while Indian government's model promotes the use of Bt cotton crops.

It is located across the Chaudhary Devi Lal University on NH9.