Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Despite the pandemic, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) on Thursday mentioned it posted the highest-ever turnover through the monetary year 2020-21. KVIC recorded a 7.71 per cent development in gross annual turnover to Rs 95,741.74 crores from Rs 88,887 crores in FY20, the commission announced in a statement by the MSME Ministry, even as the production activities had been suspended for more than 3 months through last year’s lockdown announced on March 25. “During this period, all Khadi production units and sales outlets too remained closed that severely affected the production and sales,” the ministry mentioned.
“There were a lot of government orders that we had received last year. While during the pandemic there was no sale but we had launched the online sale that supported our growth. Moreover, after khadi outlets were allowed to open last year, aggressive marketing was undertaken and customers had also started accepting local products,” Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman, KVIC had told TheSpuzz Online.
KVIC added that the general production of khadi and village business sectors in FY21 witnessed 101 per cent development in comparison to FY16 though the gross sales through this period improved by 128.66 per cent. The commission reasoned launch of Khadi e-portal, Khadi masks, Khadi footwear, Khadi Prakritik Paint, Khadi hand sanitizers, and so forth., setting up of a record quantity of new PMEGP units, new SFURTI clusters, government’s push to Swadeshi and KVIC’s agreements with paramilitary forces for the provide of provisions for improved turnover. The village business sector’s production had improved from Rs 65,393.40 crores in FY20 to Rs 70,329.67 crores in FY21. Likewise, sales of village business items stood at Rs 92,214.03 crores in FY21 vis-à-vis Rs 84,675.29 crores in FY20.
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“We have added more than 527 new Khadi institutions and distributed over 50,000 new charkhas (to artisans) and around 10,000 looms that have added to the production. While the impact of second wave will be there, we will plan on growth once the lockdown lifts. Last year, over 28 lakh masks were sold while each outlet had sold 2,000-3,000 masks daily. Also, the government’s constant appeal to adopt khadi has helped in growth,” Saxena had mentioned.
However, production and sales in the khadi sector dipped as spinning and weaving activities across the nation took a key hit through the pandemic, the ministry added. While production declined to Rs 1904.49 crores from Rs 2292.44 crores in FY20, the sales contracted to Rs 3527.71 in FY21 from Rs 4211.26 crore in the preceding year. KVIC had launched its e-commerce marketplace early this year right after operating it in beta mode for 4 months with items across 58 categories such as groceries, footwear, apparel, herbal medicines, spices, and more. The beta portal had served more than 22,000 clients so far,” Saxena had told TheSpuzz Online in an earlier interaction.