Gadkari urges textile stakeholders to promote Khadi

Mumbai: Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari, on Tuesday, said that the MSME and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) together had been contributing 29 per cent to country's growth and 40 per cent to total exports of the country, consequently providing employment to over 11 crore people.

Gadkari was speaking during a talk on "Roadmap for Growth of Khadi Sector" held during the business summit 'Globalizing Brand Khadi – the Pride of India' in Mumbai on Tuesday, under the aegis of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Outlining the Government's mission to generate additional 5 crore new jobs and subsequent policies to achieve it, Gadkari, while appealing to the key stakeholders associated with the Khadi Sector, said, "The time has come to promote Khadi as a brand, with the introduction of technology and innovative methodology in its production for improving its quality. Khadi has the potential to capture international markets with its unique product features and sustainability. It needs to be exploited and capitalized for growth of Indian artisans."

Giving stress on naturalness to the products he also shared that village industries such as pottery, bamboo, biofuel and tribal area are also picking up demand with focused initiatives from KVIC.

"Our government is committed to build robust policies and framework to facilitate the growth of Khadi and Village Industries Sector," he added.

Corroborating similar views, the Minister of State for MSME Pratap Chandra Sarangi spoke about ways in which Khadi production can be increased thus meeting the target of generating Rs. 10,000 crore turnover in the coming five years. "If 130 crore people start wearing Khadi, it will provide employment to 150 million persons," he asserted.

Secretary MSME, Dr Arun Kumar Panda, in his address, said that the summit is a good platform for all stakeholders associated with sector to give solutions that can impact life of artisans at grass-root level.

"The summit is a think tank to overcome the challenges and difficulties and to build the road ahead for development of the sector," he said, adding that khadi has huge potential for growth in International markets due to its USP of being a premium product which is very niche. International Collaborations will certainly take Khadi Brand to a new high.

KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that the total turnover of Khadi has also increased from Rs 889 crore to Rs 3215 crore in the four years.

"Emerged now as a 'Fabric of Future', Khadi has now become a stylish narrative, now being popularly embraced by the noted designers, thanks to the attention given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Due to its unique eco-friendly nature and perfect and vivid fabric qualities, this versatile fashion fabric of India is now being used as a tool to navigate India towards Economic Transformation. Innovations in Khadi are now drawing huge national and international appeal,"

he said .