Back to feeds

Started the business at 17 when his father died and built a 60,000 CR empire. 1. At just 17, after he passed away, Nirmal Minda had to join his father's (Shadilal Minda) automotive parts business, Minda Industries. It produced ammeters for vehicles and had a modest turnover of 60 lakhs. But Nirmal had problems. 👇 2. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) would trust only international players with quality, let alone a 17-year-old boy in India. Nirmal also had no funds to invest in modern machinery, and a 120-day working capital became a challenge in scaling operations. He had to do something. 🤔 3. He realised he had to pivot from ammeters to high-demand automotive switches and wait for one big client to come so that people could start trusting him. But beating players like Lucas TVS, Hella, and Lumax was impossible. Nirmal persevered for seven long years and finally struck gold. 🙌 4. In 1987, Minda Industries finally received a contract from Maruti and entered into contracts with Hella and JM to set up a testing and validation kit. Minda Industries scaled to an annual turnover of Rs 1.5 CR. But Nirmal knew a contract wouldn't do; getting larger contracts from these OEMs was the main game. ✅ 5. The liberalisation policy came in 1991, and the economy opened completely. In 1992, Nirmal partnered with Toyota's group company, Tokai Rika. The joint venture became a technical license three years later as Minda Industries expanded to horns and lighting systems for even four-wheelers. And magic happened. 🪄 6. It scaled to an annual turnover of 100 CR. Since Maruti contributed around 60% of the revenue, Nirmal shifted to clients like Tata Motors and Mahindra for lighting and horn solutions in their passenger and commercial four-wheelers. And finally, the big moment was due. 👇 7. As Minda clocked a turnover of 396 CR in 2007, it listed on the stock market with an IPO that oversubscribed 30 times. By 2010, Minda Industries became a global name and served clients like Volkswagen and BMW. It became a 500 CR company and clocked a revenue of 597.1 CR. 💰 8. Minda Industries kept expanding and scaled to over 50 product lines, with 145 product patents and 165-plus design registrations by 2017. With 43 factories, 1000 suppliers and a presence in four continents, it became a 3500 CR company and leapt to revenue of 3505 CR at a profit of 384 CR. 📉 9. Today, Uno Minda (its name changed in July 2022) has 26 product lines, 252 patents, and 73 factories. With a revenue of 14,030.89 CR and a profit of 1585.26 CR, it has more than 70% market share in the 2/3-wheeler segment in India. 💪 ➡️ Who would have thought a 17-year-old boy would build his father's 50 lakh legacy into a 60,000 CR business empire? 👑