https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Laxmanrao_KirloskarLaxmanrao Kirloskar - Revision history2026-07-31T22:54:57ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Laxmanrao_Kirloskar&diff=330406&oldid=prevUpdateBot at 12:22, 19 May 20222022-05-19T12:22:18Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Laxmanrao Kirloskar<br />
| image = Laxmanrao Kirloskar 1969 stamp of India.jpg<br />
| image_size=245px<br />
| caption =<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1869|6|20}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Gurlhosur|Gurlahosur]], [[Belgaum district]], [[Bombay Presidency]], British India<br />
| death_date = {{death date|df=y|1956|9|26|1869|6|20}}<br />
| death_place = <br />
| occupation = Founder, [[Kirloskar Group]]<br />
| children = [[Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar|Shantanurao]], ''inter alia''<br />
}}<br />
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'''Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar''' (20 June 1869 – 26 September 1956) was an Indian businessman. He is the founder of the [[Kirloskar Group]]. He was born on 20 June 1869, in Gurlahosur, a village in [[Belgaum district]] of the erstwhile [[Bombay Presidency]].<ref name="Reed">{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Stanley|authorlink1=Stanley Reed (British politician)|title=The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950|date=1950|publisher=[[The Times Group|Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd.]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206/page/n736 702]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206|accessdate=20 February 2018}}</ref><br />
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==Biography==<br />
Laxmanrao, was a [[Maharashtra|Maharashtrian]] [[Karhade]] [[Brahmin]] and his father Kashinathpant was a Vedant-Pandit. Therefore, the society also expected Laxmanrao to follow in the foot steps of his father. However, he broke away from the traditions and entered the field of engineering and technology.<ref>{{cite book|title=Choosing an Indian Associate: How to Evaluate Partnerships for Profit|author1=Aprakash Chandra Bose|author2=Rupa K. Bose|publisher=Business International Asia/Pacific Limited|year=1989|page=105-106}}</ref> <br />
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Laxmanrao was fond of two things: mechanical objects and [[painting]]. Against his father’s wish and with financial support from his eldest brother Ramuanna, Laxmanrao joined [[Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art|J J School of Art]] in [[Mumbai|Bombay]] in 1885. Unfortunately, he had to quit after 2 years as he was found to be partially [[Color blindness|color-blind.]] He gave up [[painting]] but continued to study [[mechanical drawing]] at the institute. This skill came handy and lead him to a position of Assistant Teacher of Mechanical Drawing at [[Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute|Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute]] (VJTI) on a salary of Rs. 45 per month.<br />
Sometime in early 1890s Laxmanrao started bicycle dealership – he would buy bicycles in Bombay and send them to his brother Ramuanna in [[Belgaum]] where he would sell them. For a cycle of Rs. 700 to 1000 Ramuanna would also charge Rs. 15 for teaching how to ride.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laxmanrao Kirloskar – Pioneer of Indian machine tool Industry|url=http://www.catalign.in/2010/07/laxmanrao-kirloskar-pioneer-of-indian.html|accessdate=6 October 2014}}</ref><br />
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His first venture – a small bicycle repair shop at [[Belgaum]]. The road on which he started the shop, is today named as Kirloskar Road. Strongly believing that agricultural implements must fit the milieu they are used in, he manufactured [[Plough|iron ploughs]], the first Kirloskar products.<br />
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He established a small unit in the former Aurangabad State for production of Chaff-cutters and manufacture of iron ploughs. In the early days, Kirloskar had to meet with opposition from farmers who believed that iron ploughs were poison to the land and make it useless. Superstitious farmers were extremely hard to convince and Laxmanrao Kirloskar took two years to sell his first iron ploughs. Laxmanrao Kirloskar could not find a suitable place for his workshop; help came from the Ruler of Aundh who offered him a place and arranging loan of seventeen thousand Indian rupees. In 1910, Laxmanrao started his factory in an arid waste land by the side of a renowned railway station, named Kundal Road. The factory now known as famous Kirloskar Industries and the station called as [[Kirloskarwadi]]. Laxmanrao Kirloskar was not only an industrialist but also a great social reformer. When blind orthodoxy was rampant in rural area, he advocated the removal of untouchability. He banned untouchability in the township that he had established at [[Kirloskarwadi]] which is in Sangli district. He believed in social reform and trusted in the goodness of man. He employed ex-convicts as night watchman.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laxmanrao Kirloskar|url=http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Print%20Size/2.56%20x%202.5/LAXMANARAO%20KIRLOSKAR|accessdate=6 October 2014}}</ref><br />
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He had read about industrial townships in Europe and America where the owners of industries had built communities for the employees. His dream was to build his own industry and community for his employees; he realized this dream with [[Kirloskarwadi]], a place where he started the Kirloskar Brothers Limited factory in 1910.<br />
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==Personal life==<br />
Laxmanrao was married to Radhabai and had five children with her, sons [[Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar|Shantanurao]], Rajaram, Prabhakar, Ravindra and a daughter.<ref name="Reed"/><br />
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==Legacy==<br />
Departments of Posts, Union Government of India issued a postal stamp for Laxmanrao Kirloskar on 20 June 1969 marking 100 years of birth anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laxmanrao Kirloskar – Indian Post|url=http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Print%20Size/2.56%20x%202.5/LAXMANARAO%20KIRLOSKAR|accessdate=6 October 2014}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051222004133/http://www.vrkec.com/aboutus/founders.htm Website of Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd.]<br />
*[http://www.kirloskar.com Kirloskar Group]<br />
*[https://www.kfil.com/ Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Limited]<br />
*[http://irfca.org/articles/vikas/stamps.html A write-up on 100 years of Kirloskar Group on the occasion of release of a commemorative postal stamp]<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirloskar, Laxmanrao}}<br />
[[Category:1869 births]]<br />
[[Category:1956 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Marathi people]]<br />
[[Category:Businesspeople from Karnataka]]<br />
[[Category:Kirloskar Group]]<br />
[[Category:People from Belagavi district]]</div>UpdateBot