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The Government of Karnataka province owns the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited company which manufactures the world famous Mysore Sandal Soap. The person who initiated the production of this branded soap in the year 1916 was the then King of Mysore - Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar who set up the Government Soap factory in Bangalore. Mysore in the state of Karnataka is known for its sandalwood reserves. Mysore was a major exporter of sandalwood across the world but during the early 19th century and at the time of the First World War the Mysore Kingdom faced difficulties in exporting the sandalwood trees to Europe. So the King Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar to make use of the sandalwood reserves and with the advice of his diwan Vishweshraja was motivated to set up a soap factory in Bangalore. Thus came up the soap factory using the sandalwood oil as the essential ingredient and manufactured soaps and marketed in the name of Mysore Sandalwood soap.

As a part of this organization another factory came up in Mysore which was into distilling sandalwood oil from its wood. Another sandalwood oil factory was set up in the district of Shimoga in Karnataka in the year 1944. But however in the year 1980 the Government of Karnataka decided on merging all theses factories under a single organization and named it as Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited. Sharabha, a mythological creature having a body of a lion and the head of an elephant, was chosen as the logo of the company. This was because the creature represents the combined virtues of wisdom, courage and strength and symbolizes the company's philosophy. KSDL apart from soaps are also involved in the manufacture of other allied products like incense sticks, talcum powder and detergents. Mysore Sandalwood soap takes the credit of being the only soap in the world for being manufactured from 100% pure sandalwood oil and also it is certified with the GI tag or the Geographical indication.


The GI certified product has all the rights to use the brand name where the quality is ensured and no plagiarism occurs. The Mysore Sandal Soap was not marketed in a high profile but only in the year 2006 the Indian Cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was appointed as the First Brand Ambassador. According to a survey which was done in 2006, among the total production of nearly 450 thousand tonnes of soap produced annually in the country at least 6500 tonnes was constituted by the Mysore Sandal Soap. The Karnataka Soap and Detergent Limited Company in Bangalore is so well equipped that it is capable of producing more than 26,000 tones of soap annually. The unique aroma of the sandalwood oil produced by KSDL is known across the globe as East Indian Sandalwood Oil. The Karnataka Soaps & Detergents Ltd. (KS&DL) is the true inheritor of India's Golden Sandalwood Legacy. KSDL is the major producer of Mysore Sandal Soap and also the largest extractor of sandalwood oil in the world.

Apart from being exported to major countries like Europe, U.S.A., U.A.E., Russia and Germany, the oil is also used by a number of perfumery industries in the world. The main ingredient of the sandalwood soap, the oil is popularly known as Liquid Gold. Sandalwood being one of the first and traditional perfumery source which was used in many products. The sandalwood oil which is used in the manufacture of the Mysore Sandal soap has lot of ayurvedic and antiseptic properties and is excellent for skin care preventing skin rashes and damages thereby acting as a nourishing and softening agent for the skin. Apart from the pure and the 100% sandalwood oil some vegetable oil is also used in the manufacturing process of the soap. The soap is marketed in different sizes catering to the requirement of all purposes like it is available in 17gms, 75gms, 125gms, 150gms and 150gms x 3 packed in a set.

There is a high reputation for the Mysore Sandal soap in the global market for the Maharaja of Mysore took great steps by introducing "THE WORLD'S BEST NATURAL SANDALWOOD OIL" and to make it as a "FRAGRANCE AMBASSADOR OF INDIA". The Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore made the first experiment on extracting sandalwood oil form sandalwood under the leadership of Prof. Suddourough and Prof. Watson. The high quality Sandalwood oil with British Pharmacopeia was introduced to the world by the Government Soap Factory, Mysore. However the idea of manufacturing sandal soap from sandalwood was sparked on Maharaja only after he received a gift pack of soaps from a foreigner made by sandalwood oil. Then the Maharaja sent a Sri S.G. Shastry to London who was a highly educated Industrial Chemist to get trained on Soap and Perfumery technology. On his return back to India, Sri S.G. Shastry has developed Sandal perfume, which was considered as a land mark in the field of soap perfuming in early days and with that the era of Mysore Sandal Soap began.

The original Sandal soap was manufactured using pure sandalwood oil and other natural essential oils consisting of Vetivert, Patchouli, Geranium, Palm Rosa, orange, Petitgrain etc.The average monthly sale of the Mysore Sandal soap goes up to an average monthly sale of about Rs. 75 million. This soap has yet to be targeted to the Youth of India for mostly people above 40 years old are maximum using the sandal soap. However now the KSDL to improve the market have come up with Mysore Sandal baby soap. The KSDL follows other market strategies like a scheme is introduced where the distributors who meet the targeted sales could enter a lucky draw where they could win silver or gold coins. Nearly 85% of the total sales of the Mysore Sandal soap is in South India which mainly includes provinces like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Because of the depletion of the sandalwood reserves in Karnataka, KSDL is facing difficulties in getting the source material - sandalwood.

Hence the production has come down resulting in the company using only 25% of the manufacturing capacity of its factory. KSDL is trying to overcome this shortage by bidding sandalwood in the open market and also by importing the wood from other countries. KSDL is entitled as 'Fragrance Ambassador of India' whose products are in demand in international markets. They are exported to other countries like the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, West Asia, Australia and Germany. In order to increase the supply of sandalwood oil and to bring awareness among the people the company has come up with "Grow More Sandal Programme" whose aim is to promote cultivation of sandalwood throughout the country. The company has encouraged the farmers by promising buy back agreements and given them sandalwood saplings and to grow them for mature wood. The KSDL has been recognized for its contribution in the Public Sector Unit category and has been awarded with the Chief Minister's Rathna Award in the year 2010. The organization has been given the CHEMIXIL Award for excellence in exports.

The best part of the sandalwood tree for the extraction of the sandalwood oil is the heartwood of which those coming from the roots are the best. The quality of oil extracted from a young tree is less so generally an older tree is used in extraction. The main factor which contributes for the fine quality of the sandalwood oil is the quality of the wood, the length of distillation time, and of course the experience of the distiller. The best method of extracting the oil from the sandalwood tree is by steam distillation. This process mainly involves the passing of the steam through the powdered wood which in turn helps the essential oil to be released from the cellular structure of the wood. Now the cooling of the steam will result in sandalwood hydrosol and sandalwood essential oil. Though steam distillation is most commonly followed these days one of the other traditional methods which are in rare use is the Hydro -distillation which results in a very quality of sandalwood oil with superior aroma.

In this method the sandal powder is soaked in water in the hydro-distiller which is heated by fire and then carries off the steam which is allowed to cool. Once cooled the sandalwood oil is then removed from the top of the hydrosol. The latest invention is the extraction of the oil by the CO2 extraction method in which no water or steam is used but instead CO2 is used as a solvent.

The CO2 is used under high pressure in which it exhibits a likeness to both a gas and a liquid. These qualities allow the aromatic constituents of Sandalwood to be extracted without heat. The CO2 is then removed from the resulting extract which is then refined and filtered. The oil produced from this method has a different look and feel, as well as an odor profile different from Sandalwood oil obtained by steam or hydro-distillation.

Various plants are supposed to be installed for the making of Sandal Soap. The main raw materials required for the manufacture of the soap are palm fatty acid, caustic soda and salt water. All these raw materials are boiled in a huge container at a temperature of about 100-130 °c for nearly 3-4 hrs. During this process of boiling, fats are reduced and the dust particles are also separated. This is known as saponification. Once this process of saponification is over a knead soap is formed with moisture content of 35 %. Then the knead soap goes into a drying plant where the moisture content is removed and finally the distilled sandalwood oil is added.