Khadi gets separate HS code

The Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry has issued a separate HS code for khadi to categorise its products in export and segregate those from routine products. Data regarding khadi export earlier used to be under the textile head. Now tracking khadi export figures will become easier, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said.

HS Stands for harmonised system, a six-digit identification code. It was developed by the World Customs Organisation and customs officers use the code to clear every commodity that enter or cross any international border. In the absence of separate HS code, the export of khadi products was difficult to categorise and calculate.

Meanwhile, Bihar state chief minister Nitish Kumar early this week inaugurated the country’s first khadi mall in Patna. The four-storeyed mall, the biggest store of khadi products in the country, displays machine-stitched apparel, handicraft items, Madhubani paintings, ‘katiya-to-katiya’ tasar silk items and small scale and village industries’ products. Several items at the mall have been prepared keeping in mind the demands of the people, local media reports quoted the chief minister as saying.