Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar (28 May 1903 – 24 April 1994) was an Indian businessman who was instrumental in the rapid growth of the

Kirloskar Group Kirloskar Group is an Indian conglomerate, headquartered in Pune. The group exports to over 70 countries over most of Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe. The flagship and holding company, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, established in 1888, is India's l ...

. S. L. Kirloskar was the son of

Laxmanrao Kirloskar Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar (20 June 1869 – 26 September 1956) was an Indian businessman. He was the founder of the Kirloskar Group. Biography Laxmanrao was born on 20 June 1869, in a Maharashtrian family in Gurlahosur, a village in Belga ...

, who established the Kirloskar Group and the township of Kirloskarwadi. S. L. Kirloskar earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

He was also among the first Indians to graduate from MIT. S. L. Kirloskar was a global thinker and an enterprising person who had the courage and the confidence in the potential of his own country even in the pre-independence era. He often said, "Economic preparedness is as vital as military preparedness." He viewed India as a part of the rest of the world and worked towards making India globally competitive. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Kirloskar Group grew rapidly under the leadership of S. L. Kirloskar. In 1946, he established Kirloskar Electric Company and Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited at

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

and

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, respectively. He is credited with developing the manufacture of diesel engine indigenously as an import substitute after India attained

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. He penned an autobiography under the title ''Cactus and Roses''. S. L. Kirloskar was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in the year 1965 for his contribution to trade and industry. On 26 February 2003, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India, released a commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

marking the 100th anniversary of S. L. Kirloskar's birth.

Awards

*Rashtrabhushan Award of

FIE Foundation FIE Foundation is a charity trust established in 1970, belongs to 'Fie Group of Industries' Ichalkaranji, in Maharashtra State of India. Background Mr. P. D. Kulkarni ( Panditkaka Daji Kulkarni), The Chairman of FIE Group, who was also the tr ...

Ichalkaranji Ichalkaranji ( t͡səlkəɾəɳd͡ʒiː is a city in Kolhapur District, Indian state of Maharashtra, governed by a municipal corporation. It is known for its textile manufacturing industry and "Manchester City of Maharashtra". Ichalkaranji ...

References

External links

india.gov.inKirloskar GroupKirloskar Brothers Limited, Kirloskar Group Flagship Company
* ttp://www.investsmartindia.com/IIL_NEW/StockWatch/company/directorReportShow.aspx?cocode=338&sccode=522068&symbol=-1 Director's report – Kirloskar Oil Engines Limitedbr>Speech
by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

on occasion of S. L. Kirloskar's birth centenary
Birthdate of S. L. Kirloskar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirloskar, S. L. 1903 births 1994 deaths Businesspeople from Pune Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Marathi people Kirloskar Group MIT School of Engineering alumni