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Started from a village, lost everything in a fire and built a 16,000 CR company. 1. Born in Petamitta, a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, Ramachandra Naidu Galla was raised in a modest household. He was known for fixing radios and electrical circuits, and this passion led him to pursue Electrical Engineering at JNTU Anantapur, but he was still not done. 🤔 2. He became the first person in Petamitta to get a Master's from the coveted Michigan State University, USA. He had a high-paying engineering job with Sargent and Lundy in the US. But Galla wanted to empower rural India. In 1985, he returned to India, not a metro city, but to Karakambadi—an underdeveloped area near Tirupati. 🙌 3. He had to a dream to create jobs in India. With his childhood passion for circuits, he started a company in 1985 to make world-class industrial batteries in India. Amara Raja was born. 🚀 4. Galla had neither the infrastructure nor the capital in a market dominated by Exide and flooded batteries. But he had a vision. He introduced Sealed Maintenance-Free (SMF) batteries—cleaner, safer, and longer-lasting than existing high-maintenance batteries. But challenges came. 👇 5. The product was unvalidated, and the market was sceptical. Dealers resisted buying and doubted its performance. But Galla knew he had to make it market-ready and get some credibility. 🤔 6. In 2000, he launched Amaron as a stylish, maintenance-free battery co-developed with American technology major Johnson Controls. Unlike other leaky, acid-filled batteries, Amaron's USP was simple - No water top-ups and long life. Finally, his moment came in 2008 with an exclusive deal with Tata Motors and Hyundai. ✅ 7. But in 2010, another disaster hit. A major fire broke out in one of Amara Raja's largest plants in Tirupati, destroying inventory worth 20 CR. Orders got delayed, market confidence wavered, and cheap Chinese competitors pounced. Galla faced sleepless nights but did not give up. 🙌 8. Through reinvestment of internal accruals, Amara Raja launched a new facility within 18 months. And the numbers finally came. By 2012, their batteries powered everything from cars to telecom towers and revenue had grown to over 2000 CR. 📈 9. With vertical integration, a robust channel network, and a strategic B2B focus, it expanded into tubular batteries, UPS solutions, and EV-ready energy systems. As it clocked over 5000 CR revenue by 2017, Amara Raja became the second-largest battery maker in India. 💪 10. Today, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd (rebranded in 2023) is a 16,000 CR group and supplies batteries to Tata, Hyundai, Ford, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra, and clients in over 50 countries. ➡️But the best part is that Ramachandra Naidu Galla employs over 16,000 people and has brought clean drinking water, education, and healthcare to thousands in rural Andhra Pradesh. His dream has come true. 🙏