Reviving Khadi in India

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Khadi Goes for a Facelift

Over the years, the Khadi Boards of different states have been experimenting on blending of Khadi with other materials and improving its quality. In July 2002, a collection of ensembles in 'Tencel Khadi' (a blend of Tencel and Khadi in the ratio 30:70) was created by Bangalore-based designer, Deepika Govind, in association with the Karnataka Khadi Board. Tencel is a lyocell fiber natural in origin and hence, environment friendly. It offers the comfort and luxury of a natural fiber as well as the performance and practicality of a man-made fabric. Tencel Khadi showed lesser shrinkage (4-5%) as compared to the high shrinkage seen in Khadi garments (about 7 %).

Due to Tencel's softness, it would become easier to work with Khadi and lend better drape quality to finished garments. Tencel Khadi would provide excellent scope for exports. In 2002, the Austria-based company, Lenzing AG, proposed to make Khadi more eco-friendly by blending the bio-degradable 'modal fibre'12 with Khadi. This blend would absorb 50 per cent more humidity than cotton. The blend, besides strengthening the Khadi yarn, would make it easy to wash and maintain. Future of Khadi The saleability of any textile depends on its USP and performance. For many years, the promotion for Khadi had been on emotional and political grounds while its quality and variety had been ignored completely. Khadi has very little to offer in terms of fabric performance. It looks attractive when starched and kept in showrooms but, it does not remain the same after washing. Even finer counts and blends of Khadi cannot withstand many washes and thus, cannot be used for day-to-day purposes.

It was becoming extremely difficult for Khadi to compete with the high-tech, colour-fast, wrinkle-free, mill-made cottons and blends available today. According to analysts, Khadi requires government sanction in every single activity and has therefore been stuck in a bureaucratic swamp, unable to increase its output or raise the quality of the fabric.

In 2002, Khadi formed less than half per cent of India's textiles. In order to grow, the production of Khadi needs to be decentralized. A research and development wing should also be established by KVIC to experiment with new patterns and colours. Besides, weavers can also be given grants to enable creating new designs.

KVIC must allot a special advertising budget to promote the fabric. KVIC plans to launch an advertising campaign in India and abroad to create awareness among people about Khadi and its uses. For this, it allocated an advertising and promotional budget of about Rs. 0.4 billion. It also plans to set up Khadi shops at all the international airports in India. KVIC is also exploring the possibilities of using e-commerce to market its products. However, Khadi, like any other craft of India, would need to face the challenge of quality and produce contemporary designs, which suit the tastes of the present generation.

Exhibits

Exhibit I: Product Range of KVIC

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12] Modal is a speciality fibre, produced solely by the Austrian company, Lenzing AG. It is made exclusively from beechwood pulp and consists of 100 per cent cellulose.