Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) on Wednesday said it is ramping up its online inventory and aims to add at least 1,000 new products by October 2 on its online store.

KVIC began selling products online from July 7 with Khadi face masks and has gradually added 180 products so far. “KVIC is adding at least 10 new products to its online inventory on a daily basis and it has set a target of adding at least 1,000 products by October 2 this year. In less than two months’ time, KVIC has served nearly 4,000 customers,” an official statement said.

The product range, which is priced from ₹50-5,000, includes hand-spun and hand-woven fine fabric such as muslin, silk, denim and cotton, Khadi’s signature wrist watch, honey, herbal and green teas, herbal medicines and soaps, papad , kacchi ghani mustard oil and a range of herbal cosmetics among others.

Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman, KVIC said,“Earlier, Khadi products were sold only through (offline) outlets and hence their visibility was confined to a few states. However, with KVIC’s e-portal, products are now reaching far-flung areas of the country, giving wider marketing spectrum to Khadi institutions which will ultimately increase their production and add to the income of artisans.” He said online sale of Khadi products is a big push to “Swadeshi” products and KVIC aims at empowering the local artisans.

KVIC said it has received online orders from 31 states and Union Territories that include the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. It has fixed the minimum order value at ₹599 for free delivery of goods and has tied up with the Postal Department for delivery of consignments via Speed Post. The online portal was developed in-house by KVIC.