Kirloskar industries are among the leading industrial enterprises in India. They have been responsible for transforming agricultural promotion in India through its products. Shri Laxmanrao Kirloskar the founder, was a pioneer in vision and zeal. He revolutionalized Indian agriculture by introducing iron ploughs in place of traditional wooden ploughs.

Laxmanrao Kirloskar, founder of the Kirloskar Industries was born on 20th June, 1869, in a small village, Gurlahosur in Belgaum District (now Mysore State). He started his life as a school teacher and later on, opened a cycle repair shop in Belgaum. But his ambition and mission could not be satisfied by a small workshop at Belgaum. He established a small unit in the former Aurangabad State for production of Chaff-cutters and manufacture of iron ploughs.

In te early days, the Kirloskar had to meet with oppositionfrom formers who bwlieved that iron ploughs were poison the land and make it useless. Superstious farmers were extremely hard to convince and Laxmanrao Kirloskar took two years to sell his first iron ploughs. When the Municipality of Belgaum ordered Kirloskar to vacate their place, Laxmanrao Kirloskar could not find a suitable place for his workshop.

But thanks to the timely help of the Ruler of Aundh who offered him a place arranging loan of ten thousand rupees, he started his factory in an arid waste land by the side of a a renown railway station, named Kundal Road. The factory later blossomed into famous Kirloskar Industries and the station came to be called Kirloskarvadi. Shri 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 Kirloskarvadi. He believed i social reform and tristed in the goodness of man. He employed ex-convicts as night watchman.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India