The MoU was signed by KVIC chief executive officer Vatsalya Saxena and NIFT director general Tanu Kashyap in New Delhi.

NIFT will collaborate through the Khadi Centre of Excellence 2.0 (COEK 2.0) to make the khadi brand more popular and marketable.

In addition, it will assist khadi institutions with training, designing garments, renovating Khadi Bhavans and developing new high-quality khadi products, an official release said.

The partnership will leverage NIFT's expertise in fashion design, technology and market trends to make khadi more attractive to the youth, KVIC chairman Manoj Kumar said.

Under the COEK, NIFT will soon complete the process of establishing a hub in New Delhi and spoke centres in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar, Kolkata, Guwahati, Panchkula, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar to strengthen the brand khadi.

In addition, initiatives like the Khadi Knowledge Portal, fashion shows, exhibitions, training programmes for lhadi institutions, design catalogues and the establishment of state-of-the-art sales outlets across the country will further empower khadi. A dyeing studio in Assam will also contribute to this effort.

The Khadi Knowledge Portal Version 2.0 will also be unveiled soon.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)