(PTI)
The Ministry of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) has a target to employ around five crore people through the khadi industry over the next five years, Union minister Giriraj Singh has said.
“We have made a plan to introduce solar-run spinning wheels in KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission) so that it can provide employment to over five crore people throughout the nation in the next five years,” Singh told PTI here yesterday.
The Union Minister of State for MSME was speaking here on the sidelines of an event, ‘Khadi by Raymond’.
“Presently khadi is less than one per cent of textiles, but due to concerted efforts in the last two years, the khadi industry sales have gone up from Rs 35,000 crore in 2014 to about Rs 52,000 crore,” he said.
The MSME ministry is taking various steps to boost the KVIC. Along with coir industry, the khadi industry is on top of the ministry’s agenda, Singh said.”Various schemes, including interest subsidies, financial assistance under the market promotion and development scheme, cluster-based development opportunities, as well as design-oriented public private partnerships, are being promoted by the ministry,” he said.
