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 Rs. 3.50 per kg, at a time when HUL's Surf was priced at Rs 15. Soon, there was a huge demand for Nirma in Ruppur (Gujarat), Patel's hometown. He started packing the formulation in a 10x10ft room in his house. Patel named the powder as Nirma, after his daughter Nirupama. Patel 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.

By 1999, Nirma was a major consumer brand – offering a range of detergents, soaps and personal care products. In keeping with its philosophy of providing quality products at the best possible prices, Nirma brought in the latest technology for its manufacturing facilities at six locations[3] in India. Nirma's success in the highly competitive soap and detergent market was attributed to its brand promotion efforts, which was complemented by its distribution reach and market penetration. Nirma's network consisted of about 400 distributors and over 2 million retail outlets across the country. This huge network enabled Nirma to make its products available to the smallest village.