Mumbai, Oct 2 (IANS) In a bid to popularise khadi, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has held global exhibitions of its products since August 15, Union Minister for MSME Giriraj Singh said here on Tuesday.
He said that in the first phase, expos were held at 10 places followed by another 50 organised on Tuesday, with the number set to go up to 150 centres worldwide in the next couple of months.
"Our aim is to generate employment. We do not focus on profits but promote social welfare by bringing women entrepreneurship in rural India," Singh said while inaugurating a month-long 'Khadi Fest-2018' on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Emphasising rural development through 'charkha' and cowdung and cow urine, the Minister said: "We expect every (gram) panchayat to generate Rs 100 million per annum from 'charkha' and Rs 150 million from household articles made of cowdung and urine. This Rs 250 million per annum revenue earned by every panchayat will help India achieve enormous rural economic growth.
Attacking the Congress, Singh alleged that the party took political advantage of Mahatma Gandhi but forgot to implement his ideology of rural empowerment and employment, especially for women. As a result, he said, 'khadi' lost its significance over the years.
"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, our government has changed the mantra from 'Khadi for Nation' to 'Khadi for Fashion' and brought it on the rampwalk for the first time at Lakme Fashion Week. We are stepping towards 'Khadi for Transformation' to make it the preferred choice for consumers," Singh said.
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that in 2017-2018, its turnover grew by 34 per cent to Rs 25.08 billion.
Encouraged by the innovative initiatives taken by the government to promote 'khadi' clothes and household articles, KVIC has set a sales target of Rs 32 billion for the current financial year.
Saxena pointed out that in the past four years (2014-2018), KVIC has achieved "tremendous growth" in sales at an average of 133 per cent, which stagnated at around 6.8 per cent per year between 2004-2014.
