Khadi Rebate Scheme (Retail Sale Rebate on Khadi)

What is the Khadi Rebate Scheme in Kerala?

Khadi Rebate Scheme is the price support the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board applies to retail sales of khadi cloth and garments in the state. Unlike almost every other government scheme, it requires nothing of the person who benefits: the discount is simply applied at the counter when khadi is bought from a khadi outlet.

The Board states the scheme's origin plainly: the Government of Kerala has permanently declared a 10 per cent rebate through the year for retail sale since 1985, with additional special rebates during festivals. That 10 per cent state rebate is combined with Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) funds to produce the total discount a customer sees.

The reason a state pays people to buy cloth is worth understanding. Khadi is hand-spun and hand-woven, which makes it structurally more expensive per metre than mill cloth of comparable quality. Left to compete on price alone, khadi loses, and with it goes the livelihood of spinners and weavers; largely women, largely rural, working in more than 40 khadi institutions across Kerala. The rebate closes part of that price gap, so demand holds up and the institutions keep their looms and charkas running.

What rebate do you actually get?

Normal rebates, available through the year:

Special rebates, on selected festival days:

The gap between the two tables is the reason khadi outlets in Kerala are busiest around festivals. A cotton khadi mundu or saree bought on a special rebate day costs 30 per cent less than its marked price, and on an ordinary day 20 per cent less.

Who benefits from the khadi rebate?

Every buyer benefits. There is no eligibility test at the counter, no income limit, no residence requirement and no form. Anyone buying khadi from a khadi outlet in Kerala receives the applicable rebate on the marked price.

The Board describes the initiative as targeting government employees, teachers and public sector workers to encourage khadi adoption, and khadi outlets often run drives at government offices and schools during festival periods. That is a targeting of promotional effort, not a restriction on who may buy.

The producers benefit indirectly, which is the scheme's real purpose. The rebate is reimbursed to the selling institution, so the institution receives the full price while the customer pays less. That keeps orders flowing to Kerala's khadi institutions and, through them, to the spinners and weavers they employ.

You cannot apply for or claim the rebate if:

• You buy khadi-style cloth from an ordinary retailer that is not a registered khadi institution or outlet. A private shop is not eligible to offer the rebate, because only registered institutions can claim the reimbursement that funds it.
• You buy a product that is not khadi. Mill-made cotton sold as "khadi look" cloth carries no rebate.
• You are seeking the rebate as a cash payment. It is a price reduction, not a transfer, and cannot be claimed after the fact on a purchase already made at full price.

What documents are required?

How to apply for and receive the khadi rebate

1. Find a khadi outlet. Buy from a Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board showroom, a Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, or a retail outlet of one of the 40-plus registered khadi institutions in the state.
2. Check the product is genuine khadi and which category it falls in, cotton, reeled silk, spun silk, polyvastra or woollen; since the rebate differs between them.
3. Buy on a special rebate day if you can. Ask the outlet which festival days carry the additional 10 per cent state special rebate; the difference between 20 and 30 per cent on a large purchase is substantial.
4. Confirm the rebate has been applied on the bill. The invoice should show the marked price and the rebate deducted, not simply a round figure.
5. Keep the bill. It is your record that the correct rebate was given, and the basis of any complaint to the Board if it was not.

How khadi institutions claim the reimbursement

1. The institution must be registered with the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board to sell at rebate.
2. It sells at the discounted price and records the sale in its sales and stock registers, categorised by khadi type since the rebate rate differs.
3. It submits a reimbursement claim to the Board for the state rebate component and to the appropriate authority for the Marketing Development Assistance component.
4. The Board verifies the claim against the registers before reimbursing, which is why accurate category-wise record-keeping matters to the institution.

What khadi Kerala produces

Kerala's khadi sector is small compared with the northern states but distinct. The state's institutions produce cotton khadi in the weights suited to Kerala's climate. The double mundu, the set mundu, shirting and towels, alongside silk khadi. Polyvastra, a blend, and woollen khadi complete the range covered by the rebate, though those two carry the lower rate.

The Board's marketing work runs alongside the rebate: exhibitions, festival sales, and outlets in district headquarters. For a buyer, the practical point is that the rebate is available across the range, so the choice between cotton and silk khadi need not be driven by the discount, which is the same 20 or 30 per cent for both.

Common questions at the counter

• Is the rebate on the marked price or the discounted price? On the marked price. Ask to see the calculation if the bill is unclear.
• Can the rebate be combined with a shop's own sale? That depends on the institution's own pricing policy; the government rebate itself is fixed.
• Are the special rebate days announced? They are notified for selected festival days, and outlets display them. Ask at your nearest khadi bhavan in advance of Onam, Vishu and the year-end period.
• What if the outlet refuses the rebate? Take the bill and raise it with the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board, since a registered institution that is claiming reimbursement is obliged to pass the rebate on.

Help and grievance redressal

• Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board, Thiruvananthapuram. Phone 0471 2331830. Portal khadi.kerala.gov.in.
• The khadi outlet's manager for immediate billing questions.
• District offices of the Board for complaints about a particular institution.

The rebate is a discount at the point of sale. No buyer needs to pay anyone, fill any form or produce any document to receive it, and any outlet asking for a fee to apply a "special" rebate should be reported to the Board.