It’s a clean sweep for Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited. The soap giant on Wednesday unveiled a high-quality Mysore Sandal Millennium sandalwood oil soap priced at Rs 720 apiece, the costliest in the country.

The soap, weighing 150 gram, also contains pure vegetable oils, almond oil, hydrolysed milk protein and skin conditioners.

Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda launched the new KSDL product at his home office. It will be available for sale at malls and airports and all KSDL outlets in the country. The cheapest sandalwood oil soap being sold by the State-owned KSDL costs Rs 27.

According to KSDL Deputy General Manager (Marketing) C M Suvarna Kumar, the soap has about five times more sandalwood oil content than a normal KSDL sandalwood soap. “It has total fatty matter of 80 per cent. It is the best quality soap ever manufactured by the company,” he stated.

“KSDL’s target is the rich and elite customers in India and abroad. The main reason behind launching the premium product is to build the image of both the company and the State. The soap, with its high quality, will act as an ambassador of the company,” he explained.

KSDL Managing Director Shivananda Naik said the company, which had incurred Rs 98 crore loss in 1998, is now making profit. In the previous fiscal, KSDL earned Rs 6 crore profit.

Naik said the company had been struggling to procure sandalwood due to its short supply in the State. KSDL is procuring sandalwood from the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

He said the company has urged the State government to provide sandalwood saplings to it, so that it can encourage farmers to take up sandalwood cultivation by distributing them. Presently, KSDL is distributing saplings to farmers in Shimoga, and it is charging Rs 12 each.

If the government agrees, KSDL will distribute saplings to farmers for free, Naik
added.