Industries Minister P Rajeeve launches eight new products of the unit under KSIE
Kochi: Minister for Industries, Law and Coir Shri P. Rajeeve inaugurated the export of premium sandalwood-based bathing bars of Kerala Soaps to GCC countries, further strengthening the presence of Brand Kerala in overseas market.
Shri Rajeeve also launched eight new products of the manufacturing unit under the state public sector Kerala State Industrial Enterprises Limited (KSIE) on the occasion.
“This is a moment of immense pride for Kerala Soaps. It adds to the popularity of Brand Kerala,” the minister said at the function held at Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty Island of the city. “The state has bright prospects in the cosmetic sector. We have sandalwood available in plenty. We must make the best use of it.”
The bathing bars of Kerala Soaps carry extracts of pure sandal from the forests of Marayoor in the Western Ghats in Idukki district.
The new products launched under Kerala Sandal label were liquid sandal & neem hand-wash, Washwell (detergent), Cleanwell (floor-cleaner), Shinewell (dish-wash) and toilet soaps such as Kohinoor Sandal Turmeric, Thrill Lavender, Thrill Rose and Thrill White.
Presiding over the function, Shri K.N. Unnikrishnan, MLA, said the profit-making performance of PSUs in the state mirrored a rise in the living standards of the people.
In his address, Shri Hibi Eden, MP, noted that the migration of Malayalis to places far and near the state implied a widening of the state’s market.
Kochi Mayor Adv. M Anil Kumar noted that the present government has been facilitating the rise of both public-sector and private industries.
KSIE Chairman Shri Peelipose Thomas said the latest market outreach by Kerala Soaps was aimed at strengthening the global presence of the premium products of the century-old state-owned manufacturing unit. “Kerala Soaps has been making profit for two consecutive years,” he added.
The other speakers at the ceremony were Principal Secretary (Department of Industries and Commerce) Shri A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, Mulavukadu Grama Panchayat President Shri V.S. Akbar, Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) under Kochi Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Smt K. Padmavathy, ITS Additional Director General of Foreign Trade Shri D. Sridhar, merchant exporter Shri Subhash Kannampillil, Distributors Shri Mohammed Ansar (Saudi Arabia), Shri Syed Abdur Rahman (UAE & Oman), Shri Mehboob C (Bahrain), Board for Public Sector Transformation Executive Chairman Shri Ajithkumar K, Federation of Indian Export Organisations Assistant Director Shri Rajeev M.C. and KSIE Managing Director Shri Rajeev G.
Established in 1914 during the British rule as The Kerala Soap Institute in Kozhikode, it was then the biggest such training establishment in Asia. Soaps produced by it instantly became popular with even the viceroy figuring among its regular users. After independence, the Kerala government took over the company in 1964. After protracted periods of lock-down, KSIE took over the company in 2010.
Kerala Soaps today has state-of-the-art automatic machinery capable of producing 12,000 metric tonnes of soap annually.
As it geared up its production capacity, the company installed new machinery that included a semi-automatic liquid filling machine, semi-automatic pouch sealing machine and an automatic sample soap stamping machine to augment commercial production. The idea was to export the products to Arabian and other West Asian nations also.
Currently, Kerala Soaps sells its products through 3,000 supermarkets across the country. In Kerala, it has 85-odd distributors, which the management is striving to raise to 150 by the end of the current financial year.
The unit’s premium product is Kerala Sandal toilet soap, which has been maintaining high quality even as competitive pricing has made it much sought-after by consumers both in the domestic and overseas markets. Its wide range of quality toilets soaps includes Thrill, Vep, Kairali and Coaltar (carbolic soap), besides the most acknowledged Washwell washing-soap. Using high-quality raw materials devoid of human touch, Kerala Soaps competes with frontline private players in the market.
The products of Kerala Soaps will be increasingly marketed abroad during this fiscal. The company’s sales touched 803.25 metric tonnes of soap within Kerala and outside in 2023-24, to register its highest turnover by far. Its net profit stood at Rs 282.08 lakh. The turnover, combining that of all the KSIE units, during the period was Rs 7,309.06 lakh. The profit so far this fiscal stands at Rs 500.05 lakh, according to Kerala Soaps General Manager Shri C.B. Babu.
In the current fiscal, Kerala Soaps is busy augmenting its production for increased presence in the international market. The company has set a targeted net profit of Rs 300 lakh in 2024-25.
KSIE, a holding company under the state’s Department of Industries & Commerce since 1973, was primarily mandated to nurse back and revive the sick units in the public sector. In 1993, KSIE delinked its subsidiaries, which became independent entities.
Today KSIE’s main activities include cargo operations at the Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram airports, Kerala Soaps at Kozhikode, Cochin International Container Freight Station at Kalamassery near Ernakulam, marketing through business centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kochi, Kozhikode and Palakkad; and running the infrastructure division in the state capital.
