Have you ever heard of Mitticool? Literally meaning ‘cool with clay’, the company is the brainchild of Mansukhbhai Prajapati, a tenth dropout and a tea-shop owner, who created an innovative solution to a problem millions of poor face across the world – he created a low-cost refrigerator from clay!
Mansukhbhai had a traditional business of pottery making, but he wasn’t interested in it, because the business was declining. His mind diverted to rooftop tile manufacturing. Being a potter himself an idea hit his mind one day when he thought, if tiles could be made out of clay, then why not other products?
That’s how Mansukhbhai created Mitticool, a company that specialises in creating earthenware products like refrigerators, cooker, filters amongst other products. A refrigerator made by his company costs Rs. 3,000/- and can be afforded by poor people. It is based on the simple scientific principle that evaporation results into cooling. His refrigerator has channels where water can be filled up and allowed to vaporise, leaving behind a cool space which keeps fruits and vegetables fresh.
Mitticool has a turnover of Rs. 45 lakhs and employs 35 people. Mitti-Cool’s products have reached countries like Africa and Dubai apart from many cities in India. The manner in which Mansukhbhai has brought forward the traditional business of clay craftsmanship to newer heights with his entrepreneurial abilities, is truly commendable. Moreover, his innovation has resulted in a low cost technology that does not require electricity to run!
Mansukhbhai (right) with former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Source: Mitticool
