Rajkot-based Saurashtra Rachnatmak Samiti to sign MoU with the company.
In a major breakthrough for the khadi industry in Gujarat, a Rajkot-based khadi organisation, Saurashtra Rachnatmak Samiti (SRS) will supply at least 5,000 meters of khadi denim fabric to country's largest denim maker, Arvind Limited.
According to sources, pursuant to the memorandum of understanding (MoU), which is likely to be signed between SRS and Arvind in about 10 days, SRS will start supplying khadi denim from 'Labh Panchami', the fifth day from Diwali (i.e. October 31, 2011). Khadi denim is a hand-spun and hand-woven cotton fabric with 12-count twisted thread.
"Arvind has asked for about 20,000 meters of khadi denim per month. But as there is a manpower constraint at present, initially we would supply 5,000 meters. The supplies will start from 'Labh Panchami', which over a period of time would increase to 20,000 meters per month. " said Devendra Desai, president of SRS.
SRS has submitted a draft of the MoU to officials of Arvind.
“The draft has been sent for an approval of the senior management of the company. The officials are likely to come back to us in a period of 8-10 days. A formal MoU signing will take place then," said Desai adding that pricing of the fabric will be based on the central government's pricing norms and will be finalised after the final approval from the company.
Due to extensive manual process of khadi denim production, the price would at premium of a normal cotton fabric produced at a mill.
Arvind, the flagship company of Ahmedabad-based Lalbhai Group, will market 'denim khadi' at global level. The company is had sent samples of denim khadi to some of the high-end consumers in Japan and Europe. However, company officials could not be contacted for the comment.
At the Paris Fashion Show organised in December 2010, Arvind had marketed the innovative Khadi Denim quoting Mahatma Gandhi's views about the conventional fabric.
