By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways & MSME Nitin Gadkari will be launching an innovative new paint developed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission on Tuesday, 12th January at his residence. The eco-friendly, non-toxic paint, called“Khadi Prakritik Paint” is a first-of-its-kind product, with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties. Based on cow dung as its main ingredient, the paint is cost-effective and odorless, and has been certified by Bureau of Indian Standards
Khadi Prakritik Paint is available in two forms – distemper paint and plastic emulsion paint. Production of Khadi Prakritik Paint is aligned with Prime Minister’s vision of increasing farmers’ income.The project was conceptualized by Chairman KVIC in March 2020, and later developed by Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute, Jaipur (a KVIC unit).
The paint is free from heavy metals like lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic, cadmium and others. It will be a boost to local manufacturing and will create sustainable local employment through technology transfer. This technology will increase consumption of cow dung as a raw material for eco-friendly products and will generate additional revenue to farmers and gaushalas. This is estimated to generate additional income of Rs 30,000 (approx) per annum per animal to farmers/ gaushalas. Utilization of cow dung will also clean the environment and prevent clogging of drains.
Khadi Prakritik Distemper & Emulsion Paints have been tested at 3 reputed National Laboratories, National Test House, Mumbai, Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research, New Delhi and National Test House, Ghaziabad. Khadi Prakritik Emulsion paint meets BIS 15489:2013 standards; whereas Khadi Prakritik Distemper paint meets BIS 428:2013 standards.