Mitti Cool[1]

8/8/2019 Mitti Cool[1]

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Image: Mansukhbhai Prajapati with APJ Abdul Kalam.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam called him a 'truescientist'. Mitticool, a clay refrigerator that works withoutelectricity had turned the world's attention to its creatorMansukhbhai Prajapati, a craftsman based in Gujarat .

Presenting the national award to Mansukhbhai in 2009,President Pratibha Patil appreciated his work and askedhim for a Mitticool.

Scientists and journalists from across the world havevisited his unit to see how he makes eco-friendly

products at a low cost.

A school drop-out, he has achieved a feat that many inthe world envy today. The simple and unassumingMansukhbhai is not keen on money. His ambition is tomake more low-cost and eco-friendly products for themasses.


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"A good majority of Indians cannot buy a fridge as it isexpensive. Besides this, electricity bills and maintenancecost is also high. Mitticool is an eco-friendly product

which has no maintenance costs. It also retains theoriginal taste of vegetables, says Mansukhbhai who hassold 1500 units so far.

"I failed in the tenth standard. But I was not disappointedas I knew that I was capable of making something new,"says Mansukhbhai who holds a patent for Mitticool.

People who considered him as incapable, now look up tohim. They say, "you are the pride of our community!"

He has been popularising earthen products since 1988.The only drawback for him is the lack of stores to sellthem.

The products are mostly available in Gujarat and in

some stores in Mumbai and Pune only. Besides, the low-cost fridge, he has developed a water filter, non-sticktava and a pressure cooker all made of clay. And he hasmany more innovative ideas.


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Image: Mansukhbhai receives the National Award from

President Pratibha Patil.However, Mansukhbhai knew he needed to thinkdifferently and make innovative products. He took a loanof Rs 30,000 and started a small factory.

At the age of 18, he made a machine, which could make600 tavas a day instead of 100 tavas they used to make

manually. This gave him lot of confidence to explore andinnovate.

He got the idea to make a machine for about Rs 4,000,which could help him manufacture more tavas than wasbeing done manually. His initiative to restart the potterybusiness was not taken positively. But he went aheaddespite opposition.

"Now all my family members actively take part in thework. They are very happy with what I have achieved sofar. I owe a lot to my family. I am happy that my elderson is doing an engineering course in ceramicengineering. "


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Image: Water filter.

His only regret is that because of poor marketing hisproducts are not reaching out to many people. He,however, makes it a point to parcel products to peoplewho are willing to deposit money in his bank account.

The business


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It was a great beginning. "I also made a clay mixingmachine. Till then, clay used to be missed with the legs.This machine also reduced the workload and improved

the efficiency."By 1995, he realised the need to build a water filter. Themarket had steel filters which were not very efficient.After months of research and hard work, he built a waterfilter.Luck favoured him too. "A person who had settled inNairobi heard about my project and approached me for

500 units. I was excited. I sold it making Rs 100,000 onthe first sale. It was a good start. The product Ideveloped was sold in Nairobi even before it sold inIndia ," he says. The water filters priced at Rs 350 to 400are quite popular.

Image: Non-stick pan.

Later in 2005, he started the non-stick tava (pan)business. "My wife could not buy a non-stick tava as it


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was costly. So I thought many people would be facingthe same problem.That's when I designed the non-stick tavas, priced

between Rs 50-100." It took him a year to research andexperiment -- testing the material for the non stickcoating etc. The food grade test for the pan was done byTata Chemicals in Mumbai.

Mansukhbhai has sold more than 50,000 tavas. He hadto make thousands of tavas before he made the perfectone.

He thanks the Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Networkand professors at Indian Institute of Management,Ahmedabad and the National Innovation Foundation,who extended their help in the form of grant andguidance for getting the patent, making the packing boxand lab testing of products.


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Image: Mitticool fridge.

"When a foreign delegation came to meet me, wecooked food in clay vessels and served them in clayplates. They were very impressed and happy with ourhealthy approach."

In 2009, he made the clay pressure cooker. "It comeswith a whistle too," he remarks. About 500 cookers havebeen sold so far.

The idea behind Mitticool

During the 2001 earthquake, all earthen pots werebroken. Some people told me the poor people's

refrigerators are broken. They referred to the'matkas'(pots) as refrigerators.


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It struck me then that I must try to make a fridge forthose who cannot afford to buy a fridge. The patentwinning Mitticool has been the most challenging product

for him. It needed a lot of experimenting. He started workon it in 2001, the product was finally ready by 2004.It took him almost four years of hard labour and aninvestment of about Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million). Anengineer who saw the fridge asked him to make 100units. This was a great morale booster.

He had to take a loan of about Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million)for the Mitticool project. He is still repaying the debt.

Image: Mansukhbhai with his products.

It takes 10 people to make a fridge in one day. Madefrom clay, the refrigerator can store water, fruits,vegetables for 8 days and milk for one day.


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The upper part of the refrigerator stores water, while thebottom unit has space for fruits, vegetables and milk.

At present, he sells the clay fridges at Rs 2,500, at hisunit. Most of the sales outside Gujarat are done duringexhibitions.

In Mumbai and Pune, some of his products areavailable. Every year he takes part at the internationaltrade fair in New Delhi in a bid to popularise theproducts.

Image: The popular clay pressure cooker.

"I have also been getting lot of calls from the US . It is

amazing to see so much interest from abroad," he sayshappily.

Mitticool was showcased at a conference organised bythe Centre for India and Global Business, JudgeBusiness School , University of Cambridge , UK in May2009. Bosch and Siemens Hausger te (BSH), Germany ,has also showed interest in Mitticool.


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About 20 units of Mitticool have been exported to the UK, Africa and Nairobi . He has now been invited to Africato set up a unit there. "I have not committed anything but

the most important thing is the soil. Gujarat has the bestsoil for pottery," he points out.

Image: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi checks the

products.

The recognition

Mansukhbhai had never imagined that his productswould win him so many accolades.

Nothing can be as rewarding as such compliments.

Money is nothing compared to people's appreciation."Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi knows me by myname. He has been very supportive and told me toapproach him for any problem," he says.

He says well-known activist and performer MallikaSarabhai recently remarked that he should be madeGujarat 's brand ambassador.


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Image: Mansukhbhai to be on Discovery Channel

He also enjoyed doing a shooting for a programmewhich will be aired on Discovery Channel.

"A team from the Discovery Channel took me aroundIndia . I enjoyed the trip. It was a wonderful experience. Ihad never imagined that I would ever be able to fly in aplane," Mansukhbhai says.

The media has been very supportive. It feels great tosee my products on television channels, newspapersetc.


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Image: Clay artifacts.

His goal

Mansukhbhai wants every Indian to have access to hisproducts. There is very little awareness about theproducts though I try to participate in 2-3 exhibitionsevery year.

"I wish I could strike a deal with a retail store like BigBazaar to get better visibility. I am sure if more peopleuse our products, it will create more awareness aboutsuch low-cost products that are a healthy and costeffective alternative in the long run."

Advice to entrepreneurs

His advice to budding entrepreneurs is: Never thinkabout failures. Never give up.

Put your heart and soul into what you want to do. Alwaysfollow the right path and have patience. Keep workinghard.

- from my archives---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Mitti Cool[1]