The Khadi industry in Uttar Pradesh is all set for a modern makeover with the Yogi Adityanath-led state government making efforts to build an exclusive brand for the made-in-UP Khadi products.
The state government is eyeing to maximise the industry’s potential by increasing the marketability of Khadi items produced in UP. The measure may also help boost rural incomes and generate job opportunities for the youth in the region.
For this purpose, the UP Khadi and Gramudyog department has chalked out a roadmap for positioning UP-made Khadi products as a unique and exclusive brand by preparing a distinct logo to identify with.
The department is also mulling tying up with top notch design and fashion institutes across India to extend support in its endeavour. Besides, the state Khadi units would be upgraded through targeted training and skilling workshops, wherein artisans would be introduced to modern technologies and contemporary fashion trends and designs.
“We would collaborate with top fashion designers in the country to handhold UP-based Khadi units and up-skill the artisans,” the department’s principal secretary, Navneet Sehgal, told Business Standard.
The department would tie up with e-commerce majors, such as Amazon and Flipkart, to establish UP Khadi as a brand in a big way, apart from hawking the Khadi products online and reaching out to national and international buyers across retail and institutional platforms, he added.
“Amazon has already evinced interest in this regard and we would also like to reach out to other e-commerce platforms as well,” Sehgal informed.
The government would provide production-based subsidy to Khadi industries instead of offering discounts in the selling price of various items. The setting up of new Khadi units in the state has also been liberalised with the introduction of the online facility.
State and national-level exhibitions would also be organised to promote brand UP as far as Khadi products are concerned.
Meanwhile, the state government would also proactively leverage various schemes of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and facilitate their speedy implementation in the state.
KVIC is the nodal agency for the planning, promotion, organisation and implementation of various programmes for the development of Khadi and other village industries across various states in the country. It usually co-ordinates with other state agencies to take measures aimed at rural development across the country.