The innovative Khadi Prakritik Paint made from cow dung is swiftly gaining ground and set to propel a massive employment surge across the country. To enable maximum people to benefit from this innovation, KVIC has included this project under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), a flagship scheme of the Central government for employment generation. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has fixed a target of setting up at least 500 manufacturing units of Prakritik Paint in rural areas, through prospective entrepreneurs, in next six months.
In just one month of its launch, 5,000 litre (approx) of Khadi Prakritik Paint has been sold and 275 prospective entrepreneurs have registered with Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI) for training in making cow dung paint. While 84 applicants have already been trained; training of the remaining candidate will be completed by 31 March. Khadi Prakritik Paint was launched by MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari on 12th January 2021. KNHPI, a unit of KVIC which has developed the paint, is providing 5-day training to applicants in making Prakritik Paint.
KVIC will be setting up another 6 Khadi Prakritik Paint manufacturing units in New Delhi, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Bengaluru and Choudwar in Orissa to maintain supplies. KVIC will soon offer dealerships for Prakritik Paint that will benefit the traders.
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the new Khadi Prakritik paint plants will accelerate the rural employment generation in the country. “At least 6,000 direct employment will be created with the setting up of the 500 new paint manufacturing plants. While this will significantly increase farmers’ income; it will also open new business avenues like manufacturing and sale of paint-manufacturing machines. This will comprehensively contribute to strengthening local production and help realise the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Saxena said.
Setting up of 500 Prakritik Paint manufacturing units will require an investment of Rs 100 crore (approx) at the rate of Rs 19 lakh (approx) for each plant. Out of this amount, machinery like Double Disc Refinery, Twin Shaft Machine, Blender, Pug Mill, etc, account for Rs 60 crore (approx). This will, therefore, also boost the machine making industry.
At the same time, 500 paint manufacturing units of the capacity of 500 litre per day will be able to produce nearly 7.5 crore litre of Prakritik Paint annually. While this will consume approx 2.25 crore kg or 22,500 MT of cow dung; it will generate an additional income of Rs 11.25 crore (approx) to farmers and gaushalas across the country and thus adding to their financial sustainability.