Khadi sales jump 28 pct to Rs 3,215 cr in FY'19

The sale of Khadi products shot up 28 per cent to Rs 3,215.13 crore in 2018-19 while production of the indigenous handspun fabric grew 16 per cent to Rs 1,902 crore, KVIC said Monday. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for adopting Khadi was one of the key reasons for the upsurge in demand for Khadi products. Data shared by KVIC showed that between 2015-2019, the compounded annual production and sales of Khadi, Poly and Solar together grew 25.52 per cent and 34.86 per cent, respectively. In comparison, between 2004-14, the production and sales growth was 6.48 per cent and 6.82 per cent, respectively. 

"Among ready-made items, our NaMo jackets were favourite products for buyers of all age groups. Purchases made through only NaMo App were as many as 7,000 Modi jackets from KVIC in last two months. "Besides, on an average most of our outlets sell minimum of 200 Modi jackets and Kurtas per day," KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said, adding, he expects to surpass the sales target of Rs 5,000 crore by the end of 2019-20. He said the rise could only be possible due to special emphasis given by Modi for revival of Khadi and village industries, along with its artisans and workers. 

Saxena also gave credit to KVIC's aggressive marketing and proper utilisation of manpower for this success. "The quantum of this success can be understood from the fact that in 2014-15, Khadi's sale was Rs 1,310.90 crore with staff manpower of 2,002, but in 2018-19, it was Rs 3,215.13 crore with only 1,535 manpower, which means even with 24 per cent drop in manpower, Khadi's sale has increased by over 145 per cent in the last five years," Saxena said. 

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He observed that in 2014-15, the per capita utilisation was a mere 65 per cent, which has gone up to over 210 per cent in 2018-19. Saxena further said KVIC is also setting up export cells to promote overseas sales of the products.