G. D. Naidu (Gopalaswamy Doraiswamy Naidu) (23 March 1893 – 4 January 1974) was born in a Telugu agrarian family at Kalangal, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. G. D. Naidu had little formal education, dropping out of school early.
Entrepreneurial ventures
He started as a bus cleaner but soon bought a used motorcycle — not to ride it, but to dismantle it. That moment, according to his later biographers, sparked his obsession with machines. In 1920, he launched Universal Motor Service (UMS) and started a public transport service between Pollachi and Palani (around 60-70 KMs distance). UMS quickly became one of South India’s most reliable bus companies and owned the most efficient fleet of public transport vehicles in the country. By 1937, he had achieved another milestone the manufacture of India’s first electric motor at his factory, National Electric Works (NEW). This invention laid the foundation for what would eventually become Textool in 1946 (an entity started by D. Balasundaram Naidu, a Sheffield-trained engineer and industrialist with whom G.D. Naidu collaborated) and later Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW, founded by founded by Shri G. Kuppuswamy Naidu in 1962, son of G.D. Naidu) which grew into India’s leading textile machinery maker., the main pillars of Coimbatore’s industrial ecosystem.
Versatility
G.D. Naidu had keen interest in documenting the important events and eminent personalities. In 1935, G.D. Naidu personally filmed the funeral of King George V at London. In 1936, he had a chance to meet Adolf Hitler in Germany. Out of the Indian stalwarts that G. D. Naidu’s camera captured were Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose. G. D. Naidu stayed away from politics, though he contested and lost in the 1936 Provincial General Elections.
Zeal for Innovation
G.D. Naidu’s ingenuity was boundless. His inventions spanned multiple domains and included:
- A kerosene-powered fan
- A super-thin razor blade, which bagged 3rd Prize to UMS Razor Company for razor blades in an exhibition in 1936 in Leipzig, Germany
- A fruit juice extractor
- A distance adjuster for film cameras
- A tamper-proof voting machine
- A plan to produce five-valve radio sets for just ₹70 in 1941
- A two-seater petrol car priced at ₹2000 (which never reached mass production due to licensing barriers) in 1952.
- Naidu’s Rasant’ razor incorporated a small motor operated by dry cells, called Heilbronn.
His contributions were though primarily Industry based also extended to the fields of core sciences such as electrical, mechanical, agricultural and automobile Engineering.
He Worked on hybrid cultivation and did research in new crop varieties such as cotton, maize and papaya on his farm at Podhanur. His farm was visited by Sir C. V. Raman and Sir M. Visvesvaraya, which indicates their interest and appreciation in his agricultural work.
Focus on education and philanthropy
Education was central to Naidu’s philosophy. Through Naidu’s efforts and donations, the Arthur Hope Polytechnic and the Arthur Hope College of Engineering were set up. Later the college moved to its present location and is now known as Government College of Technology (GCT). The college was named after the then Madras governor Arthur Hope. In 1945, GD Naidu was the principal of the college. Naidu was not satisfied with the four-year programs and said that it was a waste of time for students. He suggested that two years was more than enough to teach the same courses, with different pedagogy. However, the British government did not accept his idea and Naidu resigned from his post.
G. D. Naidu also believed in accessible, affordable education. In the 1940s, he personally funded scholarships for students cutting across caste and class lines — a revolutionary idea in those days.
Legacy
In 1967, the GD Naidu Industrial Exhibition was established to share knowledge and showcase innovations. G. D. Matriculation Higher Secondary School and Gedee Public School in Coimbatore are named after him. Gedee Weiler was established by Shri G.D. Gopal (son of G.D. Naidu) and Mr Hermann Weiler in collaboration with M/s. Weiler Werkzeugmaschinen, Germany, in 1966 (they export high precision lathes to Europe). In 1972, G.D. Naidu started the G D Naidu Charitable Trust with the sole aim of offering short term vocational courses for the students who have passed or failed SSLC. The courses were more practical oriented and covered various fields such as Radio & Television Technology, Automobile Service & Maintenance Technology, Draughtsman Training, Skilled Mechanical Craftsman Course etc. Later in the year 2002, the trust started another new institution, Gedee Technical Training Institute, in collaboration with the German Chamber of Commerce to offer Diploma courses in par with the German Dual System of Training. The students undergo similar training as that of the world famous German Dual Vocational Training in fields such as Tool Making, Mechatronics etc. GEDEE car museum was set up by G.D. Naidu to show the history of cars and the technological innovations which took place over the years. It has an impressive collection of more than 100 vintage cars, each with a history or a unique technology. The Experimenta Science Centre was founded in the year 2023 by the GD Naidu Charities with an objective of setting up museums, science centre and technical institutions, to further the cause of educating the next generation by practical means.
G.D. Naidu died on the 4th of January, 1974 who was building “Make in India” long before it became a national slogan in 2014. After his demise his son G.D. Gopal is running the charitable trust actively as Managing Trustee.
Sir C.V. Raman once said of him: “A great educator, an entrepreneur in many fields of engineering and industry, a warm-hearted man filled with love for his fellows and a desire to help them in their troubles Mr. Naidu is truly a man in a million. – perhaps this is an understatement!””
G.D. Naidu’s biography Appa as written by the popular Tamil writer Sivasankari. An academic block at Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore which houses schools for Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Architecture is named after him.
GD Naidu – The Edison of India is a documentary film, directed by K. Ranjit Kumar and produced by the Films Division of India, covering his life, times and contributions. It won the Best Science & Technology Film Award (under the non-feature documentary category) at the 66th National Film Awards.
GDN is an upcoming film, directed by Krishnakumar Ramakumar covering his life, times and contributions is being produced in which R. Madhavan plays the role of Naidu.
“I believe the mind is the most powerful machine. My aim was never profit — it was progress,” Naidu once wrote in his notebook, now archived at the G. D. Naidu Industrial Exhibition. He is hailed as the “Wealth Creator of Coimbatore”, and rightfully so his innovations played a pivotal role in transforming the city into a key industrial hub. G.D. Naidu was a self-taught genius whose inventions spanned across diverse sectors and no wonder he is acclaimed as “Edison of India”.
Reference:
https://www.gttiinfo.com/about/.
