Centre of Excellence for Khadi
set up by KVIC- Ministry of MSME, in association with NIFT
Our Team
Dr. Sudha Dhingra
Director
Professor Dr Sudha Dhingra is a senior faculty at the Textile Design department at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. Her core competence lies in studying crafts and Indian and World textiles. She has presented papers at various national and international conferences and has co-authored the book on ‘Traditional Indian Textiles’ for CBSE, class XII. She has previously held multiple positions at NIFT as Head-Cluster, Chairperson of Textile Design and Head of Faculty training.
Ayushi Jha
Associate Designer - Textile
Ayushi has graduated from NIFT, New Delhi and has worked in the craft sector as well as in the Retail and E-commerce Industry with Titan Companies Ltd - Taneira and Reliance Industries Ltd. - Ajio.com. She likes documenting stories across cultures and illustrating them in her style. She does creative fashion styling as a passion and loves to travel.
Neha Singh
Merchandiser
Neha has graduated from YWCA (Delhi). She has worked with organisations like Richa & Co., Impulse and PDS multinational fashions Ltd. as a Merchandiser. Her expertise includes product development, sourcing, costing, and vendor management. She is a multi-tasker and handles multiple buyers/vendors simultaneously.
Abhishek Yadav
Centre Head - Gandhinagar
Abhishek is a Fashion Design graduate from NIFT and has worked with reputed national and international brands on design and product development. His expertise is in creative direction, brand building and business development activities for the apparel retail and e-tail industry.
Rupsha Roy Choudhury
Associate Designer - Kolkata
Rupsha is a graduate of IICD (Jaipur). She has worked with organisations like the Craft Council of West Bengal, Fabindia, Label Naina Jain, Uttar Pradesh Vigyan Manch and Manyavar in various roles of technical and aesthetic genres. She chooses to work in a professionally competent environment that encourages the upliftment of crafts.
CMA Ujjal Datta
Head Finance, Accounts and Administration
Ujjal Datta is a qualified Cost and Management Accountant, a Fellow Member of ICMAI, an MBA (Finance and Marketing), and a Specialised in Forensic Accounting & Fraud Examiner (FAFE). He has 25 years of rich experience in Private, MNC and PSU. He has worked in diverse sectors such as service, manufacturing, trading, media, Export and Import of Handicrafts and Handlooms.
Sunanda Dawar
Head Textile
Sunanda is a textile graduate from Nift with an experience 25 years of in varied sectors. She started her career as a textile designer at Himatsingka Seide ltd., Bangalore. The love for handloom and the craft brought her back to Delhi to join the Rehwa Society based in Maheshwar. After 12 years at Rehwa, she decided to move to Uttaranchal to design textiles for Avani. After that, she joined The shop as a design manager, where she had a perfect mix of crafts and exports.
Nisha Maurya
Associate Designer - Apparel
Nisha is a Fashion design graduate from NIFT Gandhinagar. While pursuing her graduation, she developed a unique style reflective of traditional crafts and textiles. She has worked with various design labels and retail houses such as Simar Dugal and Fabindia. Her vision encompasses creating a global market for Indian craft and design.
Shubham Srivastava
Merchandiser
Shubham is a postgraduate (M.F.Tech) from NIFT Chennai with experience in Merchandising and buying apparel products. He has worked with reputed brands like Raymond, Tailorman, and Fabindia and has handled a variety of craft and handloom products. His core area of work is in product development, sourcing, costing, sampling, Inventory and vendor management.
Vibha Mittal
Associate Designer - Gandhinagar
Vibha is a textile design graduate from NIFT, Delhi. She has experience working in different design disciplines, including textiles, surface ornamentation, weaving, graphics and space design. She is enthusiastic about Indian arts and handicrafts and wants to make a difference through her sensibilities.
Juhi Pandey
Centre Head - Shillong
Juhi Pandey is a craft and social design professional. An alumnus of NIFT, Chennai and NID, Ahmedabad, her core work involves facilitating community and crafts development initiatives which take into account the demands of local ecosystems and traditional cultural knowledge
Dr. Dharni Dhar Tiwari
Manager - Accounts
D. D. Tiwari has a Doctor of Philosophy, and the PhD thesis title was ‘gareebi evam berojgari unmoolan mein khadi evam gramodyog karya kram ka yogdan’. He has worked for over 36 years with KVIC (M/o MSME) under the Finance, Budget, Audit and Accounts departments. He presently manages the accounts.
Nargis Zaidi
Head Apparel
An alumnus of NIFT, Gandhinagar, Nargis, has over 19 years of rich and vast experience in Indian textiles & fashion. She has been associated with leading Indian wear brands like Fabindia, Kilol, Aavran, and SEWA Gujarat. Her area of interest lies in natural fabrics, hand block printing and traditional Indian embroideries & crafts. The adaptation of traditional aesthetics into everyday clothing is her forte.
Ayushi Acharya
Communication Designer
Ayushi is a Fashion Communication graduate from NIFT, New Delhi. With a knack for visual identities and illustrations, she has worked on developing graphics for Odisha Design Week and Blue pottery artisans from Jaipur for their branding and social media. She did her graduation project under the guidance of the Centre of Excellence for Khadi.
Poonam Pandit
Centre Head - Bengaluru
Poonam is trained in textile design at NIFT New Delhi. Her diverse experience in the industry ranges from working with furnishing export houses, garment export and liaison companies, designers, educational institutions, and artisanal textile groups across rural India. Her work with weavers of Goa focused on how contemporary design can be sensitive to the local ethos and sustainable practice.
Minal Mehta
Centre Head - Kolkata
Minal Mehta, an alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad and a graduate of NIFT, Delhi, is a seasoned design and business expert with 15 years of work experience in the fashion industry. She has been head of design and business development manager for exporters and fashion houses with global clients. She has run her label, which has helped her develop a unique perspective.
Sonali Kanigicherla
Assisstant Designer - Shillong
Sonali is a soft material design graduate from IICD, Jaipur. With a Keen interest in weaving and surface design. She has worked with organisations like Rangsutra and Creative dignity. She likes to take up challenges by working in the field to uplift and contribute to the craft sector.
Gandharv Sharma
Manager - Administration
Gandharv is a Master's in Business Administration from IMT-CDL. Worked with BA Continuum India Private Limited as Senior Executive and BIRAC as Senior Assistant- Administration. He has 12 years of experience in the Administration field. He presently manages the administration of the program.
Sachin Yadav
Assistant Manager - Administration
Sachin Yadav is a postgraduate (MBA Finance) from NIT, Kurukshetra, and a graduate B.Com.(Hons.) from Delhi University. He has worked with various industries, including IT, Finance, Education, Construction, Health, and Event management. Before joining CoEK, Sachin held different managerial and administrative positions in MNCs, Private and Public organisations.