Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which comes under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, sold yoga clothes and mats worth ₹8.67 crore to various government departments. The commission sold over 1.09 lakh yoga mats and 63,700 yoga clothes through 55 Khadi institutions across the country on the occasion of International Yoga Day on June 21, reveals the recent press release by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
KVIC chairman Manoj Kumar said, “It is a matter of joy for the Khadi family that this time there has been a record-breaking sale of special yoga clothes and mats made by our Khadi artisans.” The chairman attributed it to the Prime Minister’s 'brand power' for popularising Yoga and Khadi.
The ministry of Ayush alone purchased 50,000 units of each yoga apparel and mats from KVIC's Khadi Bhawan located at Connaught Place, Delhi. “This also included 300 premium quality yoga mats. Along with this, as per the demand of the Ministry, 25,000 Khadi yoga mats and clothes were supplied in Srinagar and 10,000 mats and yoga clothes were supplied in Srinagar,” added the release. Institutions such as the Defence Research and Development Organization, ONGC, NALCO, the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, and the National Institute Of Ayurveda bought the KVIC products in bulk quantities.
The 55 institutions that were informed to cater to the demand from the government institutes and departments were majorly northern states like Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Delhi. “Through this, spinners, weavers, and Khadi workers working in Khadi institutions got additional wages and employment opportunities,” the release said.
Khadi is a hand-spun and woven natural cotton fiber cloth that is suitable for practicing yoga due to its stretchable and breathable quality and is fit not just for health but for the environment as well due to its zero chemical use, zero carbon footprint, and minimum waste of water.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were also seen wearing khadi attire in Srinagar and Ahmedabad promoting the government’s initiative for going Vocal for Local and an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
“According to the released data, this time KVIC prepared special Khadi yoga kurtas (in T-shirt style) on demand of the Ministry of AYUSH. These were specially designed keeping the youth in mind,” said the release.
The released data revealed that the revenue generated from the sale of mats was almost 24% higher than that accrued from the yoga apparel. The Khadi apparel last year was designed by the design team at the Center of Excellence for Khadi (CoEK). The centre was set up by the commission at the National Institute of Fashion Technology.
In data released earlier, the commission turnover has seen a threefold increase from Rs 31,354 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1.34 lakh crore in 2022-23.
KVIC is the nodal promotional, developmental, and organizing body set up under the MSME ministry. The commission intends to foster employment by promoting local industries that produce a range of village-associated products including khadi apparel, honey, coir (coconut), etc.
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