The Hindu : Karnataka News : Khadi sales expected to soar this year

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 29, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Khadi sales expected to soar this year

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, OCT. 28. B.S. Patil, Chairman of the Karnataka Khadi Mattu Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha, a State-level federation of the units dealing with khadi and village industries, which has taken the initiative to organise an exhibition-cum-sale of khadi and products of village industries, has estimated an upswing in the sale of khadi this year.

Mr. Patil told The Hindu here on Thursday that because of drought, which affected most of the areas of the State, khadi sales in the State had touched Rs. 35 crores last year. Thanks to good rainfall this year, he was hopeful that the sales would touch Rs. 45 crores to Rs. 50 crores this year.

Subsidy

The subsidy given by the State and Union governments had also boosted the sector.

Mr. Patil said this year the annual exhibition-cum-sale of khadi was scheduled to start from November 3 and would go on for about a fortnight.

Last year, sales touched Rs. 25 lakhs during the exhibitionand this year it was expected to double.

Besides the affiliated units, several other khadi units were expected to take part in the exhibition this year, which would have 50 stalls. The understanding reached between the Khadi and Village Industries Commission and the National Institute of Design had given a fillip to the sale of readymade khadi garments, he said.

Special feature

A special feature of this year's exhibition was the offering of black coats made of khadi for lawyers. This would be on sale for the first time, he said.

In Karnataka, nearly 30,000 families were dependent on the khadi activities and the annual production was worth around Rs. 35 crores to Rs. 40 crores.

If only due encouragement was available from the State and society, it was possible to double the coverage of families and the output, he said.

According to him, Rs. 8 crores worth of lint was purchased from farmers in the State this year and raw material to the tune of Rs. 3 crores was used for producing value-added products from farm products in the village industries sector.

A finer variety of khadi was coming to the market and household linen was also being produced in the khadi sector, he said.

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