India’s Khadi gains popularity among Americans
U.S. company places repeat order for Khadi’s Denim fabric worth Rs 80 lakhs
New Delhi, April 14 (Delhi Crown): It seems India’s Khadi fabric has caught the attention of the Americans, as U.S.-based leading clothing company and fashion brand “Patagonia” has placed a repeat order for Khadi Denim fabric manufactured at “Udyog Bharti”, a Rajkot-based Khadi Institution in Gujarat.
The order is for four types of Denim fabric made of 100% cotton having width from 28-inch to 34-inch.
In March Patagonia had placed an order for purchasing 17,050 meters of Khadi Denim fabric worth nearly Rs 80 lakh from Udyog Bharti, a Rajkot-based Khadi Institution in Gujarat.
The repeat order comes after the successful completion of the previous order for 30,000 meters of Khadi Denim fabric worth Rs 1.08 crore.
Patagonia, is using the handcrafted Khadi Denim fabric for making Denim apparels.
In July 2017, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) had signed an agreement with Arvind Mills Limited, Ahmedabad, to trade Khadi Denim products around the world.
Since then, Arvind Mills has been purchasing a large quantity of Khadi Denim fabric every year from KVIC-certified Khadi institutions of Gujarat. With the latest order, the total Khadi Denim purchase by Patagonia has gone up to 47,000 meters worth nearly Rs 1.88 crore, said an official statement issued by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Commenting on the repeat order, KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that it was a result of Khadi’s Denim’s outstanding quality that matched all international standards.
He said while supplying the order, special attention was given on maintaining the highest quality standards, uniformity of the product and timely supply of the fabric.
The previous order was executed exactly in 12 months’ time as per the schedule. “The repeat order for Khadi Denim has reaffirmed that Khadi is an apt example of ‘Local to Global’,” he added.
The purchase of Khadi Denim fabric is also creating extra man hours for Khadi artisans of Gujarat. In all, the purchase of Khadi Denim by Patagonia has created additional 300,000 man hours of work for Khadi artisans.
Last year, a Patagonia team had visited “Udyog Bharti” to see the manufacturing process of Khadi Denim. Impressed by the manufacturing process and quality of the handcrafted Khadi Denim fabric, Patagonia, through Arvind Mills, placed the purchase orders for different quantities of Khadi Denim fabric.
The Khadi fabric finds its association with India’s Father of India Mahatma Gandhi, who used to spin cotton yarn on a ‘charkha’ every day in a bid to promote it.