Jaipur, July 7: Cow dung is used in villages for mud huts but now distemper and emulsion made of it are available to paint the house.
These are developed by Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), Jaipur, which is a unit of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
The name of the paint is Khadi Prakritik Paint and the first automated manufacturing unit of the paint at Jaipur was virtually inaugurated by Minister for Road Transport and Highways & MSME Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday.
The Minister declared himself the “Brand Ambassador '' of Khadi Prakritk Paint and said he would promote it across the country. Gadkari also placed an order for 1000 litres of Khadi Prakritik Paint (500 litres each of Distemper and Emulsion) which he intends to use at his residence in Nagpur.
The Khadi Prakrtik paint was launched in January this year and was being manufactured manually. Commissioning of the new manufacturing unit will double the production capacity of Prakritik Paint. At present, the daily production of Prakritik Paint is 500 litres which will go up to 1000 litres per day.
“The research for the product was conducted by KNHPI and it took around 1.5 years to develop this. Then we tested it on the parameters of thickness, smoothness, coverage area and others and it was found at par with other brands available in the market," said Badri Lal Meena, state director, Khadi and Village Industries Commission.
He told that the paint is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and has natural thermal insulation properties. This paint is eco-friendly, non-toxic, odourless and cost-effective. The distemper costs Rs 120 and emulsion Rs 225 per litre. So far KVIC has sold over 11,000 litres of Prakritik Paint through its stores and KVIC e-portal. The KVIC has given 12 dealerships of the paint in North India and has transferred the technology to 5 entrepreneurs.
The KNHPI, which has developed the paint, is providing 5-day training to applicants in making Prakritik Paint. So far, KNHPI has already provided training to 418 persons and training of 150 applicants is awaited. The training process stopped due to Covid-19 lockdown; however, training will resume shortly.
