TLI Staff
New Delhi: Adding bouquet of popular products on the lines of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali group, state-controlled Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has come up with washable paints made of cow dung.
A leading player in khadi and silk products, the KVIC recently launched a range of formal and casual footwear.
Minister for MSMEs Nitin Gadkari launched the new offering of KVIC saying that the innovative Khadi Prakritik Paint has the potential of evolving into a Rs 6,000 crore market and creating 10 lakh new jobs.
A policy will be framed for sharing the technical knowhow of Khadi Prakritik Paint to maximum people in India. KVIC will provide technical training to new entrepreneurs who could benefit by manufacturing cow dung paint.
Thousands of Prakritik paint manufacturing units can be set up across the country that will give a big boost to local manufacturing and agro-based economy,” Gadkari said.
The Minister noted that bulk utilization of cow dung will ensure monetary gains to farmers that will also desist them from selling away cows in the market.
“This will put a check on cow slaughtering. We will stop cow slaughtering through the economy and not through the law,” he said.
Gadkari’s junior in the MSME Ministry, Pratap Chandra Sarangi said that “Vedic Vigyan” or the ancient practices have been mixed with the modern science to produce Khadi Prakritik Paint.
At present, Prakritik Paint manufacturing unit at KVIC’s Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute in Jaipur has the daily capacity of producing 500 liters of paint which provides direct employment to 10 people.
Apart from being waterproof and washable, KVIC has claimed that Khadi Prakritik Paint contains the natural benefits of cow dung like anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and natural thermal insulation properties.
The Khadi Prakritik Paint would be available in two forms – distemper paint and plastic emulsion paint.
As per KVIC, the cow dung is the main raw material of this paint which is easily and abundantly available across the country. It will, therefore, ensure round the year easy availability of raw material for the paint which will further create additional income of up to Rs 30,000 per annum per animal for farmers and gaushalas.
“This paint is eco-friendly, non-toxic, odorless and cost-effective. Emulsion paint meets BIS 15489:2013 standards; Distemper paint conforms to BIS 428:2013 standards,” the KVIC said in a statement.
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said Khadi Prakritik Paint was not just a product but a tool of accelerating the growth of rural economy in India.
“The prime objective of developing cow-dung paint is employment generation which is the basic premise of Khadi. This paint is a reinvention of age-old practices into a scientifically-tested modern product,” Saxena said.
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As compared to other paints of the same category Khadi Prakritik Paints are up to 50 percent economical, KVIC has claimed.