Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) plans to adopt e-commerce in a ‘big way’ to reach its sales target of Rs.5,000 crore by 2018.

“We are in talks with e-commerce players and are targeting online sales in a big way to reach our sales target of Rs.5,000 crore. We are in the process of tying up with Paytm, and are also looking at tie-ups with other e-commerce majors to promote online sales,” Usha Suresh, chief executive officer of KVIC said.

In order to promote khadi as a fashionable fabric, KVIC is looking to open premium lounges across major cities, called ‘Khadi India Lounge’.

“KVIC, part of the MSME ministry, is eyeing at least 10 per cent of its sales coming from online channels in the next few years. We are set to open Khadi India Lounges across metros in the country in the next few months. We are opening these premium outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur initially, and will take it to all major cities by next year,” Suresh added.

Further, to increase sales from the current Rs.1,500 crore, KVIC has several expansion plans in the pipeline.

Now, there are 26 exclusive Khadi stores, and over 7,050 sales outlets. KVIC’s products are manufactured by about seven lakh privately-owned household units. These units are funded through schemes such as Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme.

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