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Nirma
Company type	Private
Industry	Fast-moving consumer goods
Founded	1969
Founder	Karsanbhai Patel
Headquarters	Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Products	Detergent, Soaps, Cements, Putty, Soda ash, Injectables
Subsidiaries	Nirma Ltd; Nuvoco Vistas Corporation; Searles Valley Minerals Inc.; Aculife Healthcare; Glenmark Life Sciences;
Website	www.nirma.co.in

Nirma is a group of companies based in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, that manufactures products ranging from detergents, soaps, cement, cosmetics, salt, soda ash, LAB and injectables. Karsanbhai Patel, a lab technician, started Nirma in 1969 as a one-man operation.

History

In 1969, Dr. Karsanbhai Patel, a chemist at the Gujarat Government's Department of Mining and Geology manufactured phosphate-free synthetic detergent powder, and started selling it locally. The new yellow powder was priced at ₹3.50 per kg, at a time when HUL's Surf was priced at ₹13. Nirma sold well in Ruppur (Gujarat), Patel's hometown. He started packing the formulation in a 10x10 ft room in his house. Patel named the powder Nirma, after his daughter Nirupama. He was able to sell about 15-20 packets a day on his way to the office on bicycle, some 15 km away. By 1985, Nirma washing powder had become one of the most popular household detergents in many parts of the country, which was aided in part by the popular "Washing Powder Nirma" television advertisement.^[1]^[2]

By 1999, Nirma was a major consumer brand, offering a range of detergents, soaps and personal care products.^[3]^[4] The group also set up a healthcare subsidiary called Nirlife to manufacture intravenous fluids.^[5]

In November 2007, Nirma purchased American raw materials company Searles Valley Minerals Inc., making it among the top seven soda ash manufacturers in the world.^[6]

Nirma Group started cement manufacturing in 2014 from a single plant in Nimbol, with a newly established company Nuvoco Vistas Corporation.^[7] In 2016, Nirma acquired Lafarge India's cement assets for $1.4 billion.^[8] In February 2020, Nirma acquired Emami Cement for ₹5,500 crore (US$742.24 million).^[9]