KVIC plans new-look khadi

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is all set to compete with high street malls, while bringing together the rural and urban masses under one roof.

The commission is taking a slew to measures to popularise khadi, by roping in young fashion designers to giving specialised training to weavers at the village level.

According to Kumud Joshi, chairperson, KVIC, who was in Kharagpur recently for a seminar on food technology organised by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), "We are changing the entire pattern of Khadi. Some of the measures taken by us includes, roping in fashion designers and training the weavers about aspects of weaving, finance and packaging. We are also changing the look of Khadi outlets."

There are about 7,000 government-recognised Khadi outlets in the country.

About five years ago, KVIC had engaged fashion designer Rohi Bahl to design Khadi outfits, with the result that the sale of the products designed by him increased by over 200 times, according to A K Dwivedi, director of economic research at KVIC. This gave KVIC the impetus to engage more fashion designers in the Khadi industry.

This year, the commission will form a panel of designers, who are graduates form the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and National Institute of Design (NID ), to work with about 2,000 Khadi institutes across the country.

About 300 designers were shortlisted and 700 projects finalised till now. At the village level, the commission has identified about 79 weavers clusters, to be financed by the commission.

The product development, design, intervention and packaging (PRODIP) scheme of the commission in the clusters had been particularly beneficial to the rural population, said Joshi.

With all the new initiatives, the KVIC hopes to have a turnover of Rs 30,000 crore by the end of the 11th five-year plan.

Last fiscal, its turnover was close to Rs 14,500, with Rs 700 crore coming from the sale of fabrics only. The industry is growing at the rate of 8 per cent annually, along with 10 per cent increase in employment.