Yogi govt looking at Rs 300 billion private investment in UP Khadi sector

The Yogi Adityanath government is looking at almost Rs 300 billion in private investment in the state Khadi sector.

In the recently concluded UP Investors Summit 2018, memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 300 billion was signed with the Indian and foreign private sector companies across the whole khadi value chain from manufacturing to retailing.

“Even Malaysian entrepreneurs have evinced keen interest to invest in the state khadi sector. The Summit has immensely helped UP Khadi in its brand positioning before investors,” UP Khadi and Village Industries minister Satyadev Pachauri said here.

Besides, there is also a proposal for mandating the UP Police personnel don Khadi uniform once a week. Some other states have already toed this line to support indigenous khadi units.

“The proposal has already been sent to the state government and a decision is likely to be taken soon,” he said stressing the day was not far when ‘khadi for fashion, khadi for the nation’, as propounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would gain currency and become a catchphrase in the country.

Last year, the Yogi Adityanath government had unveiled a new khadi policy to boost the sector, attract private investment and increase the income of artisans. UP is the only state, which recognises Khadi fabrics manufactured over solar powered ‘charkhas’ to support small manufacturing units.

Now, the state is aggressively marketing UP Khadi products. The government is in the process of rolling out exclusive ‘Khadi Plazas’ in all the 75 districts. The department is soon to open an outlet at Lucknow airport as well to connect with the affluent and upwardly mobile customers.

On February 20, the Adityanath government had signed a MoU with global e-commerce giant Amazon to promote khadi and re-skill state khadi artisans in contemporary designs and technologies.

Under the tie-up, Amazon would also educate and train khadi artisans to directly hawk their products online. Amazon India, Director & GM, Gopal Pillai had said there was rising demand for khadi products globally and it was becoming a fabric of choice for the youth.

Since UP is famous for distinct traditional industries across districts, he said the company would be willing to consider other such products as well in the league of ‘UP Khadi’ if there is adequate demand apart from commensurate state government push.

Earlier, Adityanath had stressed khadi to ride the online bandwagon for growth and youth appeal. He had asked officials to develop a portal for marketing of khadi products and boosting entrepreneurship for creating jobs at local level.

He had also underlined that an action plan is drafted for deep research on khadi, design, standardisation and marketing support. Further, UP is also promoting khadi under its flagship ‘One District, One Product’ scheme, which aims at nurturing district specific traditional industries and handicrafts.