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Kolkota:Sticking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's growth and development model for the textile industry, the commission is also preparing a vision document to boost sales. 

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is tying up with large apparel chains and offering more value-added products, as the state-run agency seeks to quickly ramp up sales. It expects sales to reach Rs 1,500 crore in 2015, compared with Rs 844 crore last year. 

KVIC is tying up with local brands to market its hand-made products.Raymond Fabric and Fabindia have already agreed to devote a section to khadi outfits in about 600 of their outlets in the next two months. The designs would have a Khadi mark on them and sold with a new label name - for instance Fabindia will sell the products as Khadi marketed by Fabindia. 

"We are promoting khadi as a zerocarbon footprint fabric that is perfectly suitable for the Indian climate. We are not just experimenting with colours but also designs and promoting it through ways like trade fairs where we are showing it as a fabric for the youth," said KVIC Chief Executive Arun Kumar Jha. 

At the India International Trade Fair in New Delhi last month, the khadi stall recorded sales of Rs.8 crore and trade enquiry worth Rs.30 crore. 

As much as 70% khadi sales until last year were in the form of fabric. So far in 2015, 50-60% of sales came from readymade garments sold at KVIC's 7,057 khadi outlets nationwide. 

Jha attributed the growth in sales to the value addition that has been done to the product. 

"We have trained our salesman to guide the consumer better. Certain natural distress on the fabric, which would earlier be passed on as defects, is now regarded as originality of the hand-woven textile," Jha said. 

Alongside adding value to the products, the khadi stores are also being worked on in terms of number as well as services provided. Some 200 stores in places like Coimbatore, Lucknow and Murshidabad underwent renovation with KVIC spending close to Rs 10 crore.