A first-of-its-kind eco-friendly paint, with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties and based on cow dung as its main ingredient, will be launched by Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, on Tuesday.

The innovative, non-toxic and organic Khadi Prakritik paint has been developed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and is cost-effective and odourless. It has also been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Gadkari had last month tweeted about the new KVIC product, calling it the Vedic Paint which will dry in four hours.

Khadi Prakritik is available in two forms – distemper and plastic emulsion paint. KVIC says that its production is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of increasing farmers' income. The project was conceptualized by KVIC in March last year 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. KVIC says that 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 (cow shelters).

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. The Khadi Prakritik distemper and emulsion paints have also been tested at three reputed national laboratories, namely National Test House (Mumbai), Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research (New Delhi) and National Test House (Ghaziabad). It meets BIS 15489:2013 and BIS 428:2013 standards.