Lok Sabha Question No. 239 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-03
Subject: Khadi Industries
Ministry: MICRO,SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
Asked by: DNV Senthilkumar. S., Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Rebati Tripura, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Dhanush M Kumar, Ganesan Selvam, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Anurag Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 239 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2022

## KHADI INDUSTRIES

## 239. DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR. S.:

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI REBATI TRIPURA:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH alias PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

Will the Minister of MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  to  enhance  the  quality  of  the  Khadi industries in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Khadi products sold are very expensive resulting in reduction of sale of Khadi products and if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) the total number of Khadi institutions operational in the country during the last three years and  the  current  year  in  the  country  particularly  in  the  State  of  Maharashtra,  Tamil  Nadu,  Uttar Pradesh including in Jhansi and Lalitpur and North Eastern Region including Tripura;
- (d) whether the Government has any proposal to expand the reach of Khadi sector and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the number of  Khadi institutions  are  reducing day  by  day  and  if  so,  the  reasons therefor;
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  wind  up  any  unit/institutions  in  the  Khadi sector and if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to increase the demand of Khadi in order to increase its production?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SHRI NARAYAN RANE)

(a): Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has not conducted any exclusive study to enhance  the  quality  of  the  Khadi  Industry  in  the  country.  However,  in  order  to  maintain  Khadi quality  standards,  KVIC  has  established  testing  laboratories  in  the  premises  of  KVIC's  Central Sliver Plants for physical testing of the Khadi cloth produced by the Khadi Institutions.

Further, KVIC has also entered into an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Textile Committee,  Ministry  of  Textiles,  Government  of  India  for  carrying  out  onsite  verification  of certified  Khadi  Institutions  to  ensure  hand  spinning  &  hand  weaving  process  thereby  ensuring quality of Khadi products.

(b): Production of Khadi is a labour intensive process. Of the total cost of production of Khadi, 48% constitutes labour charges, leading to its high cost, when compared to open market textiles. The uniqueness of Khadi lies in its being hand-spun, hand woven and eco-friendly. Sales of Khadi improved till  2019-20  due  to  discounts  by  KVIC,  but  declined  thereafter  due  to  the  COVID-19 pandemic.

(c): The total number of Khadi Institutions (KIs) operational in the country during the last three years particularly the States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh including Jhansi and Lalitpur, North Eastern Region including Tripura is as follows:

| Year                  |   Total No. of operational KIs |   KIs in Maharashtra |   KIs in Tamil Nadu |   KIs in UP incl. Jhansi &Lalitpur |   KIs in NER incl. Tripura |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| Upto 2018-19          |                           2518 |                   39 |                  69 |                                762 |                         30 |
| Upto 2019-20          |                           2632 |                   40 |                  70 |                                762 |                         32 |
| Upto 2020-21          |                           2737 |                   40 |                  74 |                                763 |                         35 |
| Currently Operational |                           2816 |                   40 |                  80 |                                770 |                         35 |

(d): In order to expand the reach of the Khadi Sector, Government through KVIC, is conducting International,  National  and  District  level  exhibitions  for  market  promotion  and  advertisement  of Khadi. KVIC is also promoting Khadi products through e-commerce and also giving wide publicity to Khadi and Polyvastra products in local, electronics and print media.  Further, financial support is given to the Khadi Institutions for renovation of their sales outlets, computerization and software for design development, and for services of designers to develop new designs.

(e): The total number of operational Khadi Institutions has been increasing during the last three years as shown in reply of part (c) above.

(f): The Government has no such proposal.

(g): Steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  the  demand  of  Khadi  in  order  to increase its production is annexed.

* * ** *

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (g) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 239 for answer on 03.02.2022

Steps taken/being taken by the Government to increase the demand of Khadi in order to increase its production:

- i) In order to increase the demand of Khadi, KVIC is establishing a Centre of Excellence for Khadi (CoEK) with the technical support of NIFT, New Delhi at NIFT Delhi (Hub Centre) and its four spokes at Gandhinagar, Kolkata, Shillong, Bengaluru to help Khadi Institutions to design, produce and market high quality differentiated Khadi products in the Indian and global market effectively.
2. ii) Every  year,  new  Khadi  Institutions  are  being  registered  which  leads  to  increase  in production by creating the demand of Khadi.
3. iii) KVIC  is  providing  funds  for  the  implementation  of  various  projects  for  technology  up gradation under Science & Technology programs for the promotion of Khadi Sector.
4. iv) KVIC is implementing  Modified  Market Development  Assistance scheme,  which  aims  at market  segmentation  of  Khadi  products  for  effective  pricing,  strengthening  marketing network to participate/organize domestic/international exhibition, creation of market demand quality products, extending incentives to the artisans/karyakartas infrastructure development etc. which in turn helps in increasing the demand of Khadi.
- v) To increase the production of the Khadi, Government, through KVIC, is implementing the Interest Subsidy Eligibility Certificate (ISEC) scheme, in which credit at concessional rate of interest of 4% per annum is given for capital expenditure as well as for working capital as per the requirement of Khadi Institutions.
6. vi) Youth centric Khadi products are being planned with 'design by youth for youth'. Design competitions  have  been  organized  to  replicate  the  winning  entries/designs  in  the  Khadi sector.