#1 G. D. Naidu

Invention: Two-Seater Petrol Engine

Gopalaswamy Doraiswamy Naidu was an Indian inventor and engineer who is also referred to as the Edison of India.

He is credited with the manufacture of the first electric motor in India. His contributions were primarily industrial but also span the fields of electrical, mechanical, agricultural (Hybrid cultivation) and automobile engineering.  He had only primary education but excelled as a versatile genius.

As a young boy, Gopalswamy was inspired by the motor cycle which was driven by a British surveyor.  He worked as a waiter for three years and saved up to 400 rupees, and asked the surveyor to sell his bike, which he sold it to him to save himself from a persistent kid.

Ecstatic young Doraiswamy drove it and also learned everything by dismantling and assembling the motor cycle and later became a mechanic.

Naidu invented 'Rasant' razor, a small motor operated by dry cells, which was later developed at a factory in the German town called Heilbronn. Among his other inventions were super-thin shaving blades, a distance adjuster for film cameras, a fruit juice extractor, a tamper-proof vote-recording machine and a kerosene-run fan. In 1941, he announced that he had the ability to manufacture five-valve Radio sets in India at a mere Rs 70/- a set. In 1952, the two-seater petrol engine car (costing a mere Rs 2,000/-) rolled out. But production was stopped subsequently, because of the Government's refusal to grant the necessary license.

Read Also: 12 Tech Companies Who Care For Its Users  and 10 Greatest Rebirths In Tech History