‘Khadi India’ has tied up with global cloth majors Raymond and Peter England to hawk garments made out of Khadi in the international market. This is just one of the many innovative decisions taken by the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC), as part of its brand promotion and series of innovations to promote Khadi.

“The arrangement is, they (Raymond and Peter England) will buy Khadi from us and will design, stitch and whatever else they want to do,” KVIC Chairman V K Saxena told. This public sector company under the Ministry of MSME has also recently received the nod to go in for e-trade too. KVIC will launch online sales of Khadi Products through Paytm as the first step in this plan.

“In the next two months people will see Khadi India products designed by Raymonds, designed by Arvind and the finished products will be available in their, and our, stores,” said Saxena.

KVIC expects sales and production to go up, which will help weavers and spinners get more work—translating into more money in the hands of about 12.50 artisans. “My target is to create and provide jobs to three lakh artisans,” says Saxena.

The commission is also keen to set up more units to expand in urban markets. While, KVIC is reaching out to rural markets for procuring raw material, it is simultaneously working with the local administration to encourage youth in the rural areas to become entrepreneurs.

“There is a huge untapped potential in rural youth and our aim is to bring them into the mainstream and make them into major businesses,” said Saxena.

Source: New Indian Express