(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated July 14, 2025)
In mid-May, one of Karnataka’s best-known cultural brands, Mysore Sandal Soap, found itself in a bit of lather. Pro-Kannada activists were upset that Karnataka Soaps & Detergents Ltd (KS&DL), the state-owned company that manufactures the iconic 109-year-old soap, had chosen actor Tamannaah Bhatia as its brand ambassador instead of a Kannadiga celebrity. But even as it hastened to defuse the row, KS&DL had much to thank the controversy for. The firm clocked its best-ever sales for the month of May at Rs 186 crore, a 24 per cent bump from the target of Rs 150 crore.
The soap maker has been on a winning streak in the past few years, with annual sales almost doubling since 2020-21 to Rs 1,780 crore in 2024-25; net profit grew almost four-fold from Rs 113 crore to Rs 415 crore in the same period. Ramping up production and online marketing played a big role in this, says its MD, Prashanth P.K.M.
South India accounts for over 80 per cent of the sales for KS&DL, with Andhra Pradesh the biggest market. Hence, the push into other regions, especially the north. It’s also why “pan-India star” Tamannaah was signed up.
KS&DL has set itself a target of Rs 5,000 crore in annual turnover by 2028. It is investing Rs 250 crore in a new plant at Vijayapura in north Karnataka and also eyeing diversification into new products. “We are taking it nationaland even international in the future,” says M.B. Patil, Karnataka’s minister of large and medium industries. “Then perhaps we’ll need a Hollywood celebrity to endorse us,” he quipped.
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