Govt to set up design centres for khadi products

The National Design and Product Development Centre for khadi products will be established by the Khadi and Village Industries Corporation (KVIC) under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari outlined the broad plan which includes a concerted push to maximise the production and sale of khadi and make it a global brand.

“There is a need to make khadi designs more trendy and modern, without compromising with tradition. We need to make khadi attractive for the youth of the country. The product designs should be aligned to customer choices and demand, and take into account the local and regional preferences and requirements like weather condition and local designs,” Gadkari said.

The primary role of a design house will be to identify the latest design trends, adopt them according to customer needs and undertake various testing and review activities for translating them into production.

KVIC’s proposal is to set up four design houses – one each in the eastern, western, northern, southern parts of the country, besides one in the north-east. These could be on build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode or on outsourcing basis. However, these issues would be worked out in further meetings and discussions.

The Textile Ministry is working with the MSME ministry on khadi. The government wants to increase turnover from Khadi to Rs 10,000 crore from Rs 3200 crore in five years. Hopes of higher turnover stem from a 25 per cent surge in sales witnessed by the KVIC in 2018-19. In the same year, KVIC reported revenue of around Rs 75,000 crore. The body also reported a profit of Rs 15 crore on the back of strong performances by its cosmetics, food and apparel segment.