Ranchi, Jul 2 (IANS): The first 'Khadi Mall' of the country will be opened here soon, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced on Sunday.

"Within 15 days, land in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) campus will be made available to the Khadi Board to develop the country's first Khadi mall," he said while addressing the 'Karigar Panchayat' organized by the Khadi Board at the Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium here.

Noting that handicrafts were being accorded priority in the state, Das said: "People in the villages are talented and so far 1.13 lakh artisans have been registered to be trained to make goods as per the needs of the market."

It will bring a changes in their lives and the government will also provide markets to them, he added.

Das said that the artisans would be provided technological aid for value addition in their products, while rural, urban and tourism 'haats' will provide them markets for their goods.

He said that through the initiative of the Khadi Board, many people in the rural area have got jobs and the board was also providing them with markets.