Bribery scandal puts KSDL, Mysore Sandal Soap in the limelight

“People who trusted products of public sector units, like Mysore Sandal Soap, are now fearing us because of the corruption carried out by Madal,” tweeted renowned Kannada film director Nagathihalli Chandrashekar.

Madal Virupakshappa has been accused of collecting bribes through his son Prashanth, a Karnataka Administrative Services official and CFO of Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board, for clearing contracts for the supply of raw materials to KSDL.

Last week, based on a complaint, the Lokayukta police caught Prashanth allegedly accepting Rs 40 lakh from a businessman. The complainant was awarded a Rs 13 crore tender to supply about 15 raw materials for the manufacture of soaps and other products. The raid on Prashanth’s residence and office resulted in the seizure of Rs 8.20 crore unaccounted cash.

Virupakshappa resigned as KSDL chairman after Prashanth’s arrest.

Prashanth’s arrest and the cash seizure have brought the KSDL and the Mysore Sandal Soap brand back into the limelight. With a rich history of more than 100 years of production, Mysore Sandal Soap is one of the country’s most prominent brands with a presence in nearly 12 countries.

According to KSDL, its annual turnover last year stood at Rs 1,104 crore and a majority of the earnings came from Mysore Sandal Soap. “Major nations to which the soap is exported are USA, Dubai, United Kingdom and Singapore. We export products to at least 12 nations. We manufacture around 25,000 tonne soaps every year,” KSDL MD Mahesh M said.

The erstwhile Mysuru ruler Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and then diwan Sir M Visvesvaraya can be credited with launching Mysore Sandal Soap and sandal oil. It was an attempt to propel Mysuru (then Mysore) state on the global map. Initially, they launched ‘the world’s best natural sandalwood oil’, calling it the ‘fragrance ambassador of India’.

According to KSDL, in 1918, a foreign guest presented a rare gift pack of soaps made of sandalwood oil to Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who was impressed by the products. He immediately sent S G Shastri, an industrial chemist, to London for advanced training on soap and perfumery technology. Upon his return, in 1918, the Mysore Sandal Soap was launched in Karnataka.

The first indigenous sandalwood soap with the sandalwood note as its base fragrance along with natural essential oils like vetivert, patchouli, geranium, palm rose, orange, petitgrain etc. was introduced in the market and soon grew to become a household brand.

More than 100 years later, there are concerns that the scandal could hit the brand image. “Once customer confidence is lost, the product may not do well,” Bengaluru resident K Raghavan said.