Encouraged by a 29 per cent jump in the sale of khadi products during 2015-16, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has set a target of 35 per cent in the current fiscal.

“The sale of khadi products has recorded a quantum jump even in the face of economic slowdown and we aim to achieve the target of 35 per cent in 2016-17,” KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said.

According to provisional estimates for 2015-16, the sale of khadi products has gone up to Rs 1,510 crore, up 29 per cent from Rs 1,170 crore sales recorded during 2014-15, he said, adding “the achievement is impressive when compared with a modest growth of 8.6 per cent recorded in 2014-15.”

He further said sale of products of village industries too has recorded a significant jump in the last fiscal.

“The village industries segment as a whole registered sale of Rs 36,425 crore during 2015-16 against Rs 31,965 crore during 2014-15. This marks a jump of 14 per cent. The growth in 2014-15 was just 6.29 per cent. The sales in 2013-14 was Rs 30,073 crore,” Saxena said.

He said the production of the village industries also saw an increase as the segment’s production during the year was worth Rs 26,965 crore against Rs 26,689 crore during 2014-15. The production figure for 2013-14 was Rs 25,298 crore.

Saxena said the new targets for production and sales of khadi products for the current financial year were fixed at a meeting of the commission at Mumbai on May 26.

He said KVIC, which is under the Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises, has a target for khadi production of Rs 1,500 crore, sales target of Rs 2,100. Target for village industries production is Rs 32,000 crore with sales target Rs 43,000 crore, he added.

Source: The Economic Times

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