Union Government to take Khadi overseas

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 12, 2018

The Union Government’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ministry and Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) are both working to increase exports of Khadi textiles.

The MSME Ministry are, according to officials there, planning to create memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with various countries that will boost their Khadi textile imports from India. Khadi fairs in select countries are also planned to introduce foreign consumers and businesses alike to the sustainable Khadi textile. KVIC is also looking to use MoUs as a way to forge links between Indian exporters and overseas importers and to boost Khadi garment exports.

The Union Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been championing domestic production, especially in the textile industry, in their “Make in India” campaign. Khadi has arguably become their most favoured cloth and it has been given exemption from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that was brought in last July in order to create incentives for both textile manufacturers to create the fabric and for designers to use it. KVIC has recently partnered with the Globus retail chain to introduce “Khadi Corners” in stores selling garments and goods made from Khadi and the plan is to create more domestic retail partnerships to do the same.

The government is working on boosting Khadi sales both domestically and internationally. Prime Minister Modi recently stated on his radio show, “Maan Ki Baat”, that sales of Khadi products increased by 90 percent over the last Diwali season which suggests that this strategy is starting to pay off. As the government now has their sights set on international Khadi trade, big things could be on the horizon for the traditional handloom textile.