![]() ![]() The Mitticool products can be purchased from their website. There are clay murals and even intricately designed chairs and tables. ![]() The Mitticool factory outlet at Wankaner is a workshop, as well as a museum where more than 150 earthen products are on display. His two sons, Ravi, who is a Ceramics engineer, looks after manufacturing, while Raj, a Science graduate looks after the marketing aspects of Mitticool. “I didn’t even have official papers of our property which was in bank possession but Gupta Sir immediately sanctioned Rs1.8 lakh to me to work on the Mitticool fridge,” Mansukhbhai remembers with gratitude. He has high reverence for former IIM Ahmedabad Professor Anil Gupta of National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and Honeybee Network who helped him during his early days. By 2001 he registered the trademark ‘Mitticool’. In 1995 he got the first big order from Kenya for earthen water filters. He contributed to the growth of the company and increased the production of tiles significantly within one year.Īfter five years he had an idea of making a machine to make clay tawa (pan) and he took a loan of Rs 30,000 from a money-lender known to the factory owners. From 1983-1988 he took up a job in a ceramics tiles manufacturing unit that entailed 12-14 hours of work daily. He then set up a tea stall but would feel ashamed when his acquaintances crossed that side. Mansukhbhai is grateful for the support he received from former IIM Ahmedabad Professor Anil Gupta for developing the Mitticool fridge Going back to his struggling years, he recalls working ata factory in Wankaner (28 km from Morbi) where soot from the chimney entered his eyes and for six months he had to stay at home. Having seen his poor potter father getting grains in return for pots and then working as a mason after his family was uprooted from Morbi to Wankaner after the break of Machhu dam in 1979, Mansukhbhai always wanted to start an enterprise of his own. “He always dissuaded me from pursuing pottery, saying there was no money in it and no one would let their daughter marry me,” recalls Mansukhbhai, who was however convinced that bringing new technology and innovations in a traditional pottery business would yield positive results. He said it was laborious, yielded little income and there was no demand. “My father’s advice to his only son was ‘don’t follow our hereditary occupation’. He also made non-stick earthen tawa in 2004, as non-stick pans were in trend. So, I made machines to make spoons and bowls,” says Mansukhbhai. “I also thought why not make kitchen items as per market demand. When he found the water from village ponds had bad odour and people complained of sickness, he set out to make water filters out of mud. Mansukhbhai understood the needs of the people around him and tried to make suitable products for them. ![]()
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