Super-salt promises to cut production cost by 25%

AHMEDABAD: When Mahatma Gandhi broke the salt law in 1930, nobody imagined that the pinch of salt he picked from the Dandi beach will one day revolutionise salt production in the country. A premier research lab in Gandhiji���s own state has now developed a ���super-salt��� that has 99.5% purity, exceptional whiteness and helps salt manufacturers cut production costs by 25%. Not only have Indian manufacturers like Grasim and DCW licensed this technology, a firm from Kenya has also evinced interest in this common salt.

���Until now, no real breakthrough has been achieved in salt-manufacturing technology. However, we have managed to develop a technology that produces super-salt,��� said PK Ghosh, senior scientist and director of Bhavnagar-based CSMCRI (Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute). The salt developed by the institute is 99.5% pure (on a dry-weight basis) and is superior to the salt currently available in the market (that has 98% purity).

���The purity levels mean a lot to salt manufacturers and industries that use common salt (NaCl) as a raw material. These industries spend a lot of time and money in refining the salt (produced in the salt farms) in the washeries. Now we have managed to develop better purity levels in the salt-farm itself. This will mean a direct cut on 25% of the input costs for the manufactures,��� Mr Ghosh added. ���We have already licensed this technology to Grasim and about a month back we passed it on to DCW.��� The laboratory is believed to have received about Rs 10-15 lakh as licensing fees from both the parties.

The scientist said a Kenya firm has also evinced interest in using this technology for edible purposes. ���What makes this common salt attractive for edible applications is that our technology makes the salt exceptionally white,��� Mr Ghosh said.
���It is the simplicity of the technology, that makes it more appealing. Even the salt commissioner���s office in Jaipur described it as a great success story,��� he said, adding that the technology could revolutionise salt production in our country which is the third largest producer of the salt in the world, after the US and China. India���s annual salt production is around 17-19 million tonnes, of which 5 million tonnes is consumed as edible salt, while 8.5 million tonnes is used by various industries as raw material and the balance exported.