Mumbai, Aug 28 (KNN) The Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Nitin Gadkari has called upon enterprising people in the private sector to come forward to promote Khadi.

Addressing the gathering of industry and other stakeholders, he said “We need to strengthen the Khadi sector, the turnover of Khadi and village sector needs to be further increased; a large segment of the population is dependent on this.”

There is a need for professional approach in fashion design, so as to improve quality of Khadi products, he added.

This is not difficult from the point of view of technology and quality, he said adding that “if we receive good inputs from industry, the brand Khadi can be made world-famous.”

Gadkari said that as the facilitator, the Government is working on policies to promote growth. The government will provide support in measures such as reducing cost of capital, in bringing in mechanization and modernization, and in reducing logistics and power costs.

He stated that the Government is developing an e-market portal like Alibaba, by the name of Bharat Craft. This will provide a direct interface between buyers and sellers. We are also launching a Bank of Ideas and Innovations.

“The government is transparent, corruption-free, and trying to fast-track decision making. We seek your cooperation and suggestions in taking Khadi forward and in providing employment to maximum number of people, said MSME Minister.

On the occasion, the Minister also launched Tech Saksham, a CII Tech Project, aimed at accelerating MSME growth through technology enablement.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for MSME, Pratap Chandra Sarangi said “Khadi is the most suitable sector not only to provide employment but also to spread our culture. It acts as our national ambassador when Khadi is taken abroad.”

The middle-men should be removed as much as possible, so that maximum profit goes to the artisans, enabling them to lead a dignified life. The beauty of Khadi needs to be spread all over the world. We can fight the evil of poverty through Khadi, he added.

The government has decided to set up four design houses across the country, exclusively for Khadi. One challenge we need to address is how we attract young and aspirational people towards Khadi?, said Arun Kumar Panda, Secretary, Ministry of MSME.

Chairman, KVIC, Vinay Kumar Saxena said: “From around 889 crore rupees in 2014, the turnover of KVIC has gone up to 3215 crore rupees now, thanks in large part to the appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt Khadi; through this summit, our objective is to find ways to take this turnover to take to the tune of 20,000 crore rupees.”