The sale of Khadi has remained on growth path despite slowdown in demand in several other sectors due to demonetisation.
Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC), which sells Khadi and Village industries products through more than 7100 sale outlets across the country, of which 14 belong to the KVIC, have registered an overall increase of 9.25 per cent in December 2016 as compared to the previous year on an average in all Department Sales outlets.
Speaking to this Correspondent, Chairman KVIC VK Saxena said Central decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 & Rs 500 currency notes have not impacted Khadi sales.
He said that though there was a slight dip in the sale for the first few days , this was overcome by encouraging more modes of digital payments and also by introducing an incentive scheme for providing gift on purchases of over Rs 2,000 per bill through digital payments. The KVIC also allowed 1 per cent additional discount in its departmental sales outlets on payments through digital modes.
Khadi India outlet, Connaught Place in New Delhi registered an increase of 14 per cent in the sales in December, 2016 as compared to the same period during the previous year. In December 2015, the sale was Rs 4.84 crore and in December 2016 it reached Rs 5.52 crore (upto December 27). Similarly in November 2015, the sale stood at Rs 6.25 crores and in November 2016 the sale figure went up to Rs 6.48 crores, an increase of 4.50 per cent. In November 2015, the cashless sale (Credit/ Debit Card payment) was below 50 per cent, which has increased to over 90 per cent in the same period.
During the last one and half months, the KVIC has also initiated awareness camps and workshop for cashless transactions in all its zones for the benefit of Khadi institutions and artisans and also distributed debit cards to Khadi artisans in many places.