The Khadi and Village Industries sector, which empowers the spirit of self-reliance in the country, has not only touched new heights in the last 11 years under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the guidance of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), but has also brought new light to hope in the lives of crores of villagers. Khadi, the legacy of Pujya Bapu, is no longer just a fabric, but has become a symbol of the creation of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'. Said Shri Manoj Kumar Chairman KVIC while releasing the provisional data of Khadi and Village Industries for the financial year 2024-25 at the office located at Rajghat, New Delhi on Monday. He informed that KVIC has set a new record of production, sales and new employment generation in the financial year 2024-25. In the last 11 years, there has been an increase of 447 percent in sales, 347 percent in production and 49.23 percent in employment generation. As said, in the financial year 2023-24, there was an increase of 399.69% in sales and 314.79% in production in comparison to the year 2013-14, he added.

Chairman Shri Manoj Kumar further said that this excellent performance of KVIC has made a significant contribution towards realizing the resolution of 'Viksit Bharat' by the year 2047 and making India the third economy of the world. He attributed this historic achievement to the inspiration of Pujya Bapu, the guarantee of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the guidance of the Ministry of MSME and the tireless hard work of crores of artisans working in the remote villages of the Country. Chairman KVIC shared that while the production of Khadi and Village Industry products was Rs. 26109.07 crore in the financial year 2013-14, it increased nearly four times to Rs. 116599.75 crore in the financial year 2024-25 with a jump of 347 percent. While the sales were Rs. 31154.19 crore in the financial year 2013-14, it increased nearly fivefold with an unprecedented growth of 447 percent to reach Rs. 170551.37 crore in the financial year 2024-25, which is the highest sale till date.

Speaking to the media, he opined that unprecedented growth has also been observed in the production of Khadi clothes in the last 11 years. While the production of Khadi clothes was Rs. 811.08 crore in the financial year 2013-14, it increased by 366 percent and increased four and a half times to Rs. 3783.36 crore in the financial year 2024-25, which is the best performance till date. There has also been a tremendous jump in the sales of Khadi clothes. While its sale was only Rs. 1081.04 crore in the financial year 2013-14, it increased by about six and a half times to Rs. 7145.61 crore in the financial year 2024-25 with an increase of 561 percent. The promotion of Khadi by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi from a larger platform has had a huge impact on the sale of Khadi clothes, he reiterated.

Speaking on objective of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission he said that major objective of KVIC is to provide maximum employment opportunities in rural areas. In this area too, KVIC has set a record in the last 11 years. While the cumulative employment was 1.30 crore in the financial year 2013-14, it rose to 1.94 crore in 2024-25 with an increase of 49.23 per cent. There has also been an unprecedented increase in the business of Khadi and Village Industries Bhawan, New Delhi. While the business of Bhavan was Rs. 51.02 crore in the financial year 2013-14, it increased by almost 2 times and reached Rs 110.01 crore in the financial year 2024-25 with a jump of 115 percent. Since the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) scheme, a total of 1018185 units have been established, for which the Government of India has distributed margin money subsidy of Rs. 27166.07 crore against a loan of Rs. 73348.39 crore. So far 90,04,541 people are getting employment through PMEGP.

He said that with the aim of providing employment to maximum number of people in rural areas under the Gramodyog Vikas Yojana Scheme, KVIC has more than doubled the budget of Rs 25.65 crore in the financial year 2021-22 by 134 percent to Rs. 60 crore in the financial year 2025-26. So far, 39244 electric pottery wheels, 227049 bee boxes and honey colonies, 2344 automatic and pedal-operated incense stick manufacturing machines, 7735 footwear manufacturing and repairing toolkits, 964 paper plate and dona manufacturing machines, 3494 AC, mobile, sewing, electrician, plumber toolkits, 4555 turnwood, wastewood craft, wooden toy making machines as well as 2367 palm jaggery, oil ghani and tamarind processing machines have been distributed under the Gramodyog Vikas Yojana Scheme. If we talk about the last three financial years, a total of 22284 machines and equipment were distributed in the year 2022-23, 29854 in the financial year 2023-24 and the highest 37218 machines and equipment in the financial year 2024-25. Under Gramodyog Vikas Yojana, KVIC has made a significant contribution in the creation of a self-reliant India by distributing a total of 287752 machines, toolkits and equipment so far.

Speaking on significant contribution towards women empowerment he further said that in the last 10 years, 7,43,904 trainees have been trained through 18 departmental and 17 non-departmental training centres of KVIC, out of ​​which 57.45 percent i.e. 4,27,394 are women. Apart from this, 80 percent of the 5 lakh Khadi artisans are also women. In the last 11 years, the wages of Khadi artisans has been increased by 275 percent while in the last three years, it has been increased by 100 percent.

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SK