Archive · 9 Aug 2026
India's 'Edison' G.D. Naidu: School Dropout Turned Pioneering Inventor
G.D. Naidu was a man who grew up in India a long time ago.
He did not go to school for very long — he only studied until Class 3.
But he loved machines and learned by taking them apart and putting them back together.
When he was a young man, he bought a motorcycle and took it apart again and again to see how it worked.
He started a bus service in 1920, and his company grew very big.
Later, he built an electric motor in India, which was a big deal because India used to buy most machines from other countries.
He also invented things like an electric razor, a fruit juice extractor and a mechanical calculator.
He made more than 100 inventions and received a big award called the Padma Bhushan in 1970.
He died in 1974, but people still remember him as India's 'Edison.'
G.D. Naidu, a Class 3 dropout, became a self-taught engineer widely known as India's 'Edison.'
In 1920 he started a passenger service between Pollachi and Palani that grew into Universal Motor Service (UMS).
In 1937, with D Balasundaram Naidu, he developed an indigenous electric motor in an era when India relied on imported machinery.
His inventions included an electric razor, fruit juice extractor, kerosene-powered fan, mechanical calculator, voting machine and a 1952 two-seater petrol-engine car prototype.
He was associated with more than 100 inventions, received the Padma Bhushan in 1970 and died in Coimbatore in 1974 at age 80.
- Who
- G.D. Naidu, a self-taught inventor, along with D Balasundaram Naidu on the 1937 electric motor
- What
- The life and legacy of a Class 3 dropout who built an indigenous electric motor, a prototype car and more than 100 inventions
- When
- 1920 to 1974: transport business 1920; electric motor 1937; car prototype 1952; Padma Bhushan 1970; death 1974
- Where
- Coimbatore and southern India, including the Pollachi–Palani route
- Why
- To demonstrate that India could develop its own technological capabilities instead of depending on foreign products
- Known as
- India's 'Edison'
- Education
- Class 3 dropout; self-taught engineer
- Transport business started
- 1920, passenger service between Pollachi and Palani
- Company
- Universal Motor Service (UMS)
- Indigenous electric motor
- Developed in 1937 with D Balasundaram Naidu
- Notable inventions
- Electric razor, fruit juice extractor, kerosene-powered fan, mechanical calculator, voting machine
- Car prototype
- Two-seater petrol-engine car unveiled in 1952
- Award and death
- Padma Bhushan 1970; died in Coimbatore in 1974 at age 80