Boroline is a legacy brand that can be spotted in every Indian household. From a cut to chapped lips, this multi-purpose antiseptic cream is quintessential to every Indian for decades. The roots of this cream go back to 1929, during the Swadeshi movement when Gour Mohun Dutta started this ‘wonder product’ in his home to compete with foreign goods. Here’s how Gour created a product that is of utmost importance and emotional value to millions even after a century!
Boroline, a Bong essential
Gour Mohun Dutta was a foreign products importer who decided to join the Swadeshi Movement. With an ideal of a free and self-sufficient India in his heart, he began making things in his own home to compete with foreign ones, and this gave birth to Boroline, the famed green tube. It was the result of the high nationalistic surge that had swept all Indians prior to independence.
Apart from being a medical product, it was a smack in the face of the British and a strong protest against foreign goods and British economic exploitation. Boroline has actually witnessed stormy times, exited many phases, and is still very much relevant today. Grandmothers, mothers, and extremely conscious children who are afraid of skin disorders rely on the green tube blindly. Perhaps this is why Boroline has become a cultural icon among Bengalis.
It is believed that when India gained independence on August 15, 1947, the business gave away nearly 100,000 tubes of Boroline for free.
Duttas continue the legacy
Boroline is now a product under the parent company, GD Pharmaceuticals. A product that originated in British India is now produced under the leadership of GD Pharma’s managing director Debashis Dutta. He said in an exclusive interview with Live Mint that 65% of the firm’s revenue comes from outside West Bengal. In 2018-19, the company sold 13,18,450 kg of Boroline and clocked a turnover of Rs159.35 crore, as per The Hindu Business Line report. The company is at present headed by Dutta and his wife, Mahashweta.
The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, have been prominent in terms of consumption.
Boroline has for years held the position of the most loved and trusted cream and Dutta continues to uphold the legacy brand helping it reach new heights.
