Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has achieved a height that remains a distant goal for all FMCG companies in India. For the first time, a massive turnover of Rs 1.15 lakh crore was clocked, which is unprecedented by any FMCG company in the country. This makes KVIC the only company to have recorded a turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore.
In FY 2021-22, the overall turnover of KVIC stood at a whopping Rs 1,15,415.22 crore as compared to Rs Rs 95, 741.74 crores in the previous year, i.e. 2020-21
Last year’s performance, the biggest impact can be seen in the khadi sector, which has registered a growth of 43.20% from Rs 3528 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 5,052 crore in 2021- 22. In the last eight years, i.e. from 2014-15, the production in the khadi sector in 2021-22 has increased by 191%, while the sales have grown exponentially by 332%.
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena attributed khadi’s phenomenal growth to the constant support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote khadi in the country. At the same time, innovative schemes, creative marketing ideas, and active support from various ministries have also added to the khadi’s growth.
“Prime Minister’s repeated appeals to achieve self-reliance by promoting ‘Swadeshi’, and particularly ‘khadi’, has done wonders. Today khadi stands far ahead of all FMCG companies in the country. In fact, by employing new scientific methods and diversifying khadi’s product range, KVIC has achieved such massive growth that no other FMCG company can match,” he said.
Notably, people have responded enthusiastically to the Prime Minister’s calls for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Vocal for Local’. KVIC’s main focus has been to create sustainable employment for artisans and unemployed youth in the last couple of years. Faced with economic distress, many youths took up self-employment and manufacturing activities under PMEGP, which increased the production in the village industry sector. At the same time, the sales of khadi and village industry products grew significantly following the Prime Minister’s appeal to buy Swadeshi products.
The broad objectives that the KVIC has set before it is the social objective of providing employment, and the economic goal of producing saleable articles the broader purpose is to create self-reliance amongst the poor and build up a strong rural community spirit.
It’s been a year full of historic feats for Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in executing the flagship Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP). With the setting up of an unprecedented 1.03 lakh new manufacturing and service units and the creation of over 8.25 lakh jobs, PMEGP has emerged as the government’s most potent tool of self-sustainability.
The KVIC Chairman attributed this quantum jump in employment creation to the Prime Minister’s push for local manufacturing to achieve self-reliance. “This big thrust to local manufacturing and self-employment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has done wonders,” he said. In another significant step, KVIC has also begun geo-tagging of all PMEGP units to verify the actual physical status of the units and their performance. So far, more than 1 lakh PMEGP units have been geo-tagged.
This also enables anyone to locate the PMEGP units using a mobile app. Further, based on the inputs provided by KVIC, the Ministry of MSME removed the role of the district-level task force committee in approving the PMEGP projects and authorised state directors of KVIC to endorse projects and directly approve and send them to the financing banks.
To promote the sale and marketing of khadi and products of village industries or handicrafts, the KVIC may forge linkages with established marketing agencies wherever feasible and necessary. The KVIC is also charged with the responsibility of encouraging and promoting research in the production techniques and equipment employed in the Khadi and Village Industries sector and providing facilities for the study of the problems relating to it.
