Autor: Chandra Mohan

Fully active at 79, he is the Designer-inventor-technologist of the wholly Indian Swaraj tractor from scratch in the sixties. He thereafter raised Punjab Tractors Ltd, to commercialise this Swaraj technology, India»s first large-scale venture in Indian Technology and pitted against intense competition from CKD-based global brand-names. He then led PTL as its CEO for 27 years into an internationally known Blue-chip flagship of the Rs. 1500 crore Swaraj Group: Swaraj Mazda; Swaraj Engines & Swaraj Automotives. (1997 values) PTL was also the first Indian company to adopt Japanese TQM as Business Strategy. He called it a day with PTL in 1997.Post-PTL he has used his life-long experience to reshape our Higher Technical Education away from rote towards application and promote TQM culture in Industry. Promoting Techno- entrepreneurs to face the cut-throat competition of twenty-first century is his other passion. String of national and international recognitions include • 1978 : National Gold Shield for Import Substitution , • 1978 : Sir Walter Puckey Award for outstanding contribution to Production Engineering on the Indian Sub-continent• 1985 : Padmashree • 2001 : IMC-Juran Gold Medal for Life-time dedication to Quality, • 2012 : Changemaker Award from Rotary District (2012).His book, From Zero to Blue-chip (2001) is a lesson in management.