Govt to rope in garment majors to give khadi a swanky makeover

“The sole objective behind the move is to break the vicious circle and make Khadi a price competitive product. The improvement in pricing patterns will help provide handsome returns to weavers, who are opting out of the profession due to low income,” a senior KVIC official told Millennium Post.

“Raymonds, ColorPlus, and Van Heusen, among others are in talks with us for opening Khadi dedicated shops. The KVIC has discussed the branding of Khadi matter with the MSME minister who has given his go-ahead. Things are in the final stages and there are no obstacles in implementation. Since Khadi is a very sensitive issue in the country, we are taking every step cautiously,” the official said. “Khadi is not just a cloth, but it’s association with Mahatma Gandhi makes it a delicate matter.” he added.

While explaining the functioning of the proposed stores, he said, “The strategy is that the retail majors would be permitted only to sell Khadi products procured by KVIC at their stores while retailers will get a particular incentive for selling Khadi products, which will have tags of both Khadi and the retail majors. Even billing vouchers will have the Khadi logo along with the retailer ones.” He also added that retailers won’t be allowed to buy any Khadi product directly from weavers.

The move has been proposed with the objective of rationalising the price differences between silk and Khadi. The rate of Khadi clothes is on an average 40 per cent above the mill manufactured fabrics which make Khadi twice as costly as machine-made clothes.

“We have planned to increase the price of silk products and shift the raised price on Khadi, which will support in reducing prices at a reasonable rate. Silk sarees that now cost Rs 1,200 per metre for 400 counts can be fixed at Rs 4,000 per metre because in the open market, the other silk sarees are more expensive than Khadi with people still opting for the former,” the official said. “When our quality is superior to others, we are hopeful that buyers will show more interest in buying our products.” he added.

According to ministry officials, the profit margin earned out of price rationalisation would be passed onto  weavers and ‘katins’(cotton-carders) who get paltry <g data-gr-id="43">wages .</g> “We are taking into confidence all stakeholders and visiting institutions. The KVIC team has visited about 900 manufacturing units and asked them to produce more Khadi clothes in order to meet the projected demand,” the official said. He also added that presently, about 7,000 authorised as well as 2,000 unauthorised khadi shops are plying their trade across the country.